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Tax-exempt? Read an interview Learn more about the author at www.lostboysbook.com | The Lost Boys of Sudan An American Story of the Refugee Experience As we immerse ourselves in the Lost Boys' daily lives, we also get to know the social services professionals and volunteers, celebrities, community leaders, and others who guided them-with occasional detours-toward self-sufficiency. Along the way author Mark Bixler looks closely at the ins and outs of U.S. refugee policy, the politics of international aid, the history of Sudan, and the radical Islamist underpinnings of its government. America is home to more foreign-born residents than ever before; the Lost Boys have repaid that gift in full through their example of unflagging resolve, hope, and faith. Mark Bixler, a staff writer at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, has also been a reporter for the Winston-Salem Journal. March 2005 ISBN 082032499X cloth • $24.95 288 pp. • 6 x 9 in. • 14 b&w photos • 1 map"Mark Bixler shows what the refugee experience is like for tribal, traditional, and traumatized people as they crash into modern America. While there are quite a few books on the Sudanese in America, this is the one that connects personal stories to history, foreign policy, and public policy. It's erudite and readable, a rare combination." —President Jimmy Carter"Mark Bixler's fascinating narrative follows four young men coming of age as they navigate from a past that saw the slaughter of their families, the destruction of their communities, their flight to years of temporary asylum, their childhood denuded of adult assistance and supervision, in at best a fourth-world environment, to, suddenly, the most complex and competitive society on earth. Bixler also plumbs the strategic limits of American society; the rescue and resettlement of individual refugees such as these is tied to the principled oversoul of America. These young men will succeed here; as they do, we succeed too." —Roger Winter, former director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement and executive director of the U.S. Committee for Refugees, 1981-2001"Mark Bixler has written a compelling story about four courageous and persistent young men who overcame enormous adversity before arriving in the United States. As a former university president, I am especially taken by the Lost Boys' intense desire to gain a college education and by the personal sacrifices they are willing to make to achieve their goal. As the head of an organization whose mission is to serve refugees around the world and in the United States, I find The Lost Boys of Sudan to be an excellent introduction to a remarkable group of newcomers to this nation of immigrants and refugees." —George Rupp, President of the International Rescue Committee"Mark Bixler has written a compelling account of the extraordinary hardships the Lost Boys underwent in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Kenya and the at times wrenching difficulties they encountered after coming to the United States. In addition to chronicling the experiences of several of those boys, Bixler provides essential background about the civil war that led to the uprooting of millions of southern Sudanese and about the genesis and evolution of U.S. policy toward refugees, who are victims of persecution. The Lost Boys of Sudan should appeal not only to readers drawn to the dramatic story that unfolds in its pages, but also to U.S. government officials and private organizations involved in refugee resettlement who want to improve their programs."-Donald Petterson, former U.S. Ambassador to Sudan and author of Inside Sudan: Political Islam, Conflict and Catastrophe "Mark Bixler has written a compelling story about four courageous and persistent young men who overcame enormous adversity before arriving in the United States. As a former university president, I am especially taken by the Lost Boys' intense desire to gain a college education and by the personal sacrifices they are willing to make to achieve their goal. As the head of an organization whose mission is to serve refugees around the world and in the United States, I find The Lost Boys of Sudan to be an excellent introduction to a remarkable group of newcomers to this nation of immigrants and refugees."-George Rupp, President of the International Rescue Committee "An inspiring story of determination and faith. . . .An utterly gripping story of perseverant young people."-Vanessa Bush, Booklist "Bixler feeds us meticulously researched facts while doling out tantalizing bits of the compelling story of Lost Boys adjusting to America. It is the quintessential immigrants' story of people striving for the American dream: peace and a chance for education and self-determination. It is a directory for the confusion of the ongoing, 20-year civil war in Sudan. It is also an insightful look at U.S. foreign policy and 'terror-fighting' work around the world in the last 10 years. And it opens with a chilling glimpse into the almost impossible task of escaping the bottom rungs of the work ladder in our country."-Kay Campbell, The Huntsville Times "Bixler does a formidable job of portraying the incredible lives his subjects led before arriving in America. . . .An insightful and empathetic chronicle of four boys' American odyssey."-John D. Thomas, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Bixler ignores none of it, showing us the long and complex view of the Lost Boys through many lenses: history, religion, geography, economics, politics, and, of course, the personal stories of the young men he followed. . . . Far from diminishing the story, these complexities and contradictions respect the full humanity of all involved and connect us to what Bixler says are 'universal themes played out on a very dramatic stage. It's a story about grief, resilience, and the desire to transform your life. We can all relate to that.'"-Thomas Bell, Creative Loafing "An engrossing narrative."-August aMagazine "In this moving tale of two years in the life of four so-called Lost Boys resettled from Sudan in Atlanta, Georgia, Mark Bixler brings the story of the American dream screeching up to the minute. The four young men are not your typical refugees. They arrive in Atlanta after a childhood separated from their parents and spent wandering through the charnel house of Sudan's civil war. They have dodged bullets and been hunted by hyenas; they know nothing of flush toilets, air-conditioners, or automobiles. But they have a dream: to get an education. Suburban Atlanta holds many obstacles and disappointments for them, but by the end of the book, they have all found a place for themselves in America and several are well on the way to realizing their goals. Without sentimentalizing their journey, Bixler has written a book that is sometimes sad, sometimes funny, but most of all deeply inspiring."-Deborah Scroggins, author of Emma's War: An Aid Worker, a Warlord, Radical Islam, and the Politics of Oil-A True Story of Love and Death in Sudan"In the mid-1990s, LIRS and others recommended for resettlement a group of some four thousand Sudanese children who had spent most of their childhood separated from family at Kakuma Refugee Camp in Kenya. When arrivals began in 2000, only five hundred in the group were still under eighteen years of age and eligible for child welfare services. Most, like the four in Bixler's book, had 'aged out.' They were eighteen and older and had to be resettled as adults. As Bixler reveals, it's been a challenging and rewarding time for us all. We are proud to have had a role in bringing new hope and new life to this inspiring group of young men (and women)!"-Ralston H. Deffenbaugh Jr., President of Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service "The story of the group that has become known as the lost boys (and, some now say, lost girls) of the Sudan will probably go down in history as one of the most dramatic events of all times. It has already become a topic of great media attention, especially in the United States. In The Lost Boys of Sudan, Mark Bixler tells this story with insight, compassion and integrity. The story weaves together complex threads of extraordinary developments, which, for many of the children, span over a decade. This includes the outbreak of the genocidal war of identities that uprooted scores of thousands of children and the remarkable survival of significant numbers of these children against all odds, including human foes, wild beasts, creeping creatures, and dangerous waters. It describes the support they received in refugee camps, including humanitarian assistance, and such social services as education and healthcare. It details their resettlement in foreign countries, foremost among them, the United States, the warmth of reception they got from their foreign hosts and the media, the challenging, intriguing and humorous way they endeavored to adjust to life abroad, and the strikingly high level of motivation and optimism about their own future and the prospects for service in their homeland. The book is also an account of the war that is tearing the Sudan apart, the role of the international community in filling the vacuum of national responsibility resulting from the crisis of identity behind the conflict, and the prospects for a just and lasting peace. The story is well-documented and well told. This is a remarkable book, which everyone interested in the Sudan should read, and although it is an account of tragedy, it is as entertaining as it is educational."--Francis M. Deng, Research Professor of International Politics, Law and Society at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He has served as Sudan's Ambassador to Canada, the Scandinavian Countries, and the United States, as well as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs. From 1992 to 2004, he was the Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Internally Displaced Persons "An inspiring story of determination and faith."-Vanessa Bush, Booklist "While lively and even entertaining, the book does not simply tug heartstrings with touching anecdotes. . . . The book does not ignore the pitfalls and politics of refugee resettlement, which are especially complicated since 9/11, but Bixler's perspective is optimistic. He also provides essential background, including a crash course on U.S. refugee policy and a short history of Sudan."-Publishers Weekly "A remarkable book, The Lost Boys of Sudan is as informative as it is heartbreaking and inspiring."-Karla Parris, Spartanburg Herald-Journal "The so-called 'Lost Boys' of Sudan moved the author to explore some important questions about immigration policy, international aid and American opportunity as well as the day-to-day struggles of a group of young men who have been described as history's 'most war-traumatized' children."-Atlanta Magazine "Part historical/cultural primer, and part heartrending account of loss and discovery, Bixler's book is a taut documentary-like reading of an unspeakable horror. . . . The Lost Boy of Sudan is a worthy and telling testimonial for a place where hope has often been as skeletal as the people who wander its brutal landscape."-Joe Silva, Flagpole "But this is not your typical tired rags-to-riches glorification of immigrants in America. Bixler doesn't shy from the painful misunderstandings the Lost Boys encounter in navigating a foreign culture. . . . This is a well-researched book on a powerful topic and it's worth reading twice to take it all in."-Chuck McShane, The Charlotte Observer "Genuine, heartfelt examples of what war does to young people and how they may adjust to life outside the country of their birth, especially the social and intellectual problems they experience. . . . [This book is] well-written and serves as a kind of microcosm of the experiences of all the lost boys who were uprooted by Sudanese atrocities."-Dennis Lythgoe, Deseret Morning News "A moving and eye-opening account of young men from Sudan who have resettled in Atlanta. . . . Seek out this book and discover how our own lives and culture here in Georgia have influenced a group of young African men to not only seek ways to survive, but to become productive citizens. The Lost Boys of Sudan is sometimes sad, sometimes funny, but always inspiring and humbling."-Dick Stafford, Northeast Georgia Living "[A] stunning book."-Southern Living "Fascinating . . . Bixler, an astute and sometimes wry Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter, neatly captures the tension between the Americans' commitment to privacy and self-community and collective financial and emotional support. His unsentimental reporting offers a keenly observed reality check of the American dream. . . . Its most revealing pages capture the former lost boys' voices with honesty, empathy and wit."-Emily Wax, Washington Post Book World Bixler's book is extremely thorough for its length, compressing whole histories of the Sudan, refugee experience in general and the Lost Boys' in particular, but never losing sight of its four subjects, or the reader's interest."-Steve Courtney, Hartford Courant "Bixler writes honestly about the Lost Boys' triumphs and challenges, including trying to pay for college with minimum-wage jobs, sorting out the benefactors from the con artists among those offering to help, and enjoying the privileges of life in America knowing that family members still suffer back home. Perhaps the most sobering message of Bixler's book is the degree to which the refugees continue to struggle. Surviving one nation's trauma does not necessarily mean you will escape trouble in another."-Louisville Courier-Journal "Inspiring to read"-American School Board Journal |
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