Walking for Water
How One Boy Stood Up for Gender Equality
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A young boy finds a way to help his sister go to school. Victor and his twin sister, Linesi, are close. Only, now that they are eight years old, she is no longer able to go to school with him. Linesi, like the other older girls in their community, must walk to the river to get water five times a day to help their mother farm. But Victor is learning about equality in school. He’s beginning to realize how boys and girls are not treated equally. And that’s not fair to his sister. So Victor comes up with a plan to help. Can one boy make a difference in an unequal world? It turns out, he can!
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Despite being twins, eight-year-olds Victor and Linesi experience life differently in their small village in Malawi. While Victor attends school, his sister must drop out to collect water every day for their family's needs: "Five walks to the river and five walks home." When an engaging new teacher, Mr. Tambala, describes gender equality and asks the class to consider their own lives, Victor decides to alternate water-collecting responsibilities and lessons with Linesi. Hughes uses straightforward prose to explain the gendered cultural norms, while debut creator Miles digitally sketches dynamic Black characters with a range of skin tones, employing a desertlike color palette for landscapes. Inset scenes and speech bubbles bolster the narrative flow of this activism-encouraging picture book, inspired by a photo essay by journalist Tyler Riewer. Back matter includes an author's note, resources, and a Chichewa-English glossary with pronunciations. Ages 7–10.
