Salva grows up in a small, south Sudanese village. At the age of eleven, he’s forced to flee his village to avoid the ongoing civil war in his country. Salva spends much of the next decade of his life wandering across the country with other refugees, trying to find a safe place to live. Throughout the novel, Salva is a model of bravery and steadfastness. He is often terrified by what he experiences in Sudan, but he manages to summon the courage to carry on and the strength to survive.