"Lost Boy, Lost Girl: Escaping Civil War in Sudan" by John Bul Dau tells the story of two young children who had their lives disrupted by war. They each traveled far by foot, fighting rebels and starvation, to reach a refugee camp. They grew up in the camp, without immediate family and eventually made their way to America.

John lived in a rural village where his family raised cows. He had a pleasant life until he was 13. At that time, soldiers attacked his village, and he was separated from his parents. A neighbor named Abraham helped him, and they walked for months, traveling over 500 miles to Ethiopia, where they were headed for a refugee camp called Pinyudu.

Martha lived in the city of Juba. She was five years old when her mother took her sister and her to live with a cousin in the country because war was coming to their city. While their parents were away at church, the country home was attacked. Martha's relative took her, her sister, and her own five children on a very long journey to find shelter at a refugee camp called Pinyudu. Along the way, they hid from soldiers and fought illness, dehydration, and starvation.

Once they reached the camp, they joined many others. The adults lived together, and the boys were separate. They were called the "Lost Boys." The United Nations brought them food, and they set up shelters. The refugees continue to fight disease and starvation. The girls were placed with families, and Martha lived with a woman named Yar. One day they were told that they would have to leave because the new government was closing the refugee camps.

They left at night and walked toward a safer place. Along the way, John's group was attacked, and many people died as they tried to cross the river. They finally made it to the border, but there were many refugees and very little food. Martha remembered how difficult it was. They had to go three weeks without food. Eventually this area was affected by the violence of war as well. Airplanes began dropping bombs on the refugees, and they had to leave once again. John and the Lost Boys walked the 500-mile journey. Thanks to Yar, Martha got a ride for part of the way.

Both Martha and John finally found refuge at a camp in Kenya. They began to attend school and learn English. While they were at the camp, they met each other at a dance. After some persistence on John's part, Martha agreed to let him visit her so they could be boyfriend and girlfriend.

Martha was worried that she was going to be forced to get married to a much-older man, and she learned that some of the Lost Boys were able to go to America. She talked with the people at the United Nations, letting them know that there were some Lost Girls as well.

She went through the application process and received permission for herself and for her sister to go to America. They kept this secret from her family so she wouldn't be forced to marry. She and her sister went to America and joined a foster family in Seattle.

Eventually John came to America as well. He was sent to Syracuse, New York where he worked and earned a college degree. He and Martha married, and they both were reunited with their birth families. They did what they could to help this situation with the refugees back in their homeland.