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They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan
Not yet published
Expected 28 Jul 26The inspiring story of three young Sudanese boys who were driven from their homes by civil war and began an epic odyssey of survival, facing life-threatening perils, ultimately finding their way to a new life in America.
Between 1987 and 1989, Alepho, Benjamin, and Benson, like tens of thousands of young boys, took flight from the massacres of Sudan's civil war. They became known as the Lost Boys. With little more than the clothes on their backs, sometimes not even that, they streamed out over Sudan in search of refuge. Their journey led them first to Ethiopia and then, driven back into Sudan, toward Kenya. They walked nearly one thousand miles, sustained only by the sheer will to live.
They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky is the three boys' account of that unimaginable journey. With the candor and the purity of their child's-eye-vision, Alephonsian, Benjamin, and Benson recall by how they endured the hunger and strength-sapping illnesses-dysentery, malaria, and yellow fever; how they dodged the life-threatening predators-lions, snakes, crocodiles and soldiers alike-that dogged their footsteps; and how they grappled with a war that threatened continually to overwhelm them. Their story is a lyrical, captivating, timeless portrait of a childhood hurled into wartime and how they had the good fortune and belief in themselves to survive.
Between 1987 and 1989, Alepho, Benjamin, and Benson, like tens of thousands of young boys, took flight from the massacres of Sudan's civil war. They became known as the Lost Boys. With little more than the clothes on their backs, sometimes not even that, they streamed out over Sudan in search of refuge. Their journey led them first to Ethiopia and then, driven back into Sudan, toward Kenya. They walked nearly one thousand miles, sustained only by the sheer will to live.
They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky is the three boys' account of that unimaginable journey. With the candor and the purity of their child's-eye-vision, Alephonsian, Benjamin, and Benson recall by how they endured the hunger and strength-sapping illnesses-dysentery, malaria, and yellow fever; how they dodged the life-threatening predators-lions, snakes, crocodiles and soldiers alike-that dogged their footsteps; and how they grappled with a war that threatened continually to overwhelm them. Their story is a lyrical, captivating, timeless portrait of a childhood hurled into wartime and how they had the good fortune and belief in themselves to survive.
- GenresBiography
352 pages, Paperback
Expected publication July 28, 2026
About the author
Alephonsion Deng
3 books54 followersAlephonsion Deng (c. 1982 - ) is a Sudanese writer. He is best known as the co-author of the book They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys of Sudan, along with his brother Benson, cousin Benjamin and American author Judy Bernstein.
In 1989, when Alephonsion was seven years old, his village in Southern Sudan was attacked by government troops. To avoid capture he ran into the night with many other young boys. Without food, water, shoes or parents, he crossed a 1000 miles of lion and crocodile infested territory. After five years of fleeing war, starvation and wild animals, he reached Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya and began his education.
In 2001, the Federal government of the United States welcomed Alephonsion as one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. His first job was at Ralph’s Grocery Store where he worked for nine months. An opportunity came up to be in a Russell Crowe movie hence he spent six months on the Fox Studios set in Rosarito, Mexico where he learned to sail a tall ship, fire a cannon and swordfight.He has spoken to over 100 schools, universities, clubs and organizations about his extraordinary story of survival in Africa, adapting to his life in the United States and his hope for peace in the world. In 2006, Alephonsion made his stage debut in the lead role of Ater in a Mo'olelo production of Mia McCullough's drama Since Africa at San Diego's Diversionary Theatre.
--from the Wikipedia article
In 1989, when Alephonsion was seven years old, his village in Southern Sudan was attacked by government troops. To avoid capture he ran into the night with many other young boys. Without food, water, shoes or parents, he crossed a 1000 miles of lion and crocodile infested territory. After five years of fleeing war, starvation and wild animals, he reached Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya and began his education.
In 2001, the Federal government of the United States welcomed Alephonsion as one of the Lost Boys of Sudan. His first job was at Ralph’s Grocery Store where he worked for nine months. An opportunity came up to be in a Russell Crowe movie hence he spent six months on the Fox Studios set in Rosarito, Mexico where he learned to sail a tall ship, fire a cannon and swordfight.He has spoken to over 100 schools, universities, clubs and organizations about his extraordinary story of survival in Africa, adapting to his life in the United States and his hope for peace in the world. In 2006, Alephonsion made his stage debut in the lead role of Ater in a Mo'olelo production of Mia McCullough's drama Since Africa at San Diego's Diversionary Theatre.
--from the Wikipedia article
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