A semi-biographical novel based on the life of Valentino Achak Deng, a “lost boy” who escapes the brutal civil war in Sudan by trekking hundreds of miles through the desert—where if starvation or soldiers don’t get him, the heat or the lions probably will. Deng eventually settles in the United States, where there are lions of a different sort. He handles all challenges with innate goodness and a strength of will that inspires faith in the rocky experiment called humanity. This is a moving, beautifully told story that you’ll take with you wherever you go long after you’ve finished reading. You can’t not enjoy it. Reviewed on April 22, 2021