How Dare the Sun Rise

March 20, 2017
In this gripping and timely memoir, Uwiringiyimana, a member of the Banyamulenge (a minority tribe in the Democratic Republic of Congo), recounts a childhood shaped by experiences as a
refugee in Africa and the United States. Memories of her younger sister, Deborah, who died at age six when their tribe was attacked in a refugee camp, bookend the narrative. While the trauma of surviving the massacre reverberates throughout the story, the author also shares how multiple incidents of being treated as an outsider contributed to her nuanced sense of identity. As a child, “ would say I wasn’t truly Congolese.” After the massacre, when Sandra’s family participated in a resettlement program and moved to Rochester, N.Y., she entered “a different kind of war zone” in which she was defined by her skin color. With compassion and perspicacity, Uwiringiyimana shares the journey through which she became a courageous advocate for her tribe and refugees everywhere: “This is my story.... I must keep telling it, until the international community proves.... that my family and all others are not disposable.” Ages 13–up. Agent: Jess Regel, Foundry Literary + Media.

March 15, 2017
At the age of 10, author Uwiringiyimana went through horrors no one, let alone a child, should ever have to go through. She thought her life was over when she found herself with a gun, held by a member of a guerrilla group, pointed to her head. This, after she had just witnessed the gunning down of her mother and sister in the massacre of her tribe, the Banyamulenge. Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Sandra and her family had been living in a refugee camp in Burundi when the rebels struck one night. Sandra lived to tell her tale. After picking up the pieces they could find, Sandra and her family were resettled to America via a United Nations refugee program. They had more troubles ahead when the racial division and ethnic disconnect of the States hit them head-on. -I had grown up in a war zone,- she writes on coming to understand how blackness defines her in her new home, -but life in America...was a different kind of war zone.- In this touching memoir, Uwiringiyimana, with the help of Pesta, tells her story of tragedy, terror, survival, and hope. As she carries readers on a journey of self--of discovering, losing, and finding it again--she becomes a powerful voice for many who are silenced: girls, women, and immigrants everywhere, refugees in particular. This hard-hitting autobiography will have readers reeling as it shows one young woman's challenging path to healing. (Memoir. 13-adult)

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Starred review from April 1, 2017
Gr 7 Up-The greatest storytellers connect with readers through universal truths, and Uwiringiyimana tells her own profound story with clarity and honesty. After a heart-pounding cliff-hanger opening, Uwiringiyimana goes back in time to revisit her childhood in Uvira, a city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Although occasionally interrupted by bouts of war and subsequent migration, her childhood was rich and fulfilling. However, everything changed during a stay at a refugee camp. The camp at Gatumba was attacked by the Forces for National Liberation, a militant rebel group-a deadly event that would forever alter Uwiringiyimana and her family. The resulting narrative is a powerful look at the family's move to the United States, the challenges of adjusting to a different culture, Uwiringiyimana's painful recognition of her trauma from the massacre, and, finally, the healing she experienced as she took ownership of her emotional needs. Throughout, readers will be able to relate to Uwiringiyimana's adolescent struggles of fitting in and her relationship with her parents as a new adult. The title is a critical piece of literature, contributing to the larger refugee narrative in a way that is complex and nuanced but still accessible for a YA audience. VERDICT This poignant memoir is a must-have for teen collections.-Hannah Ralston, Webster Public Library, NY

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