Author Hanna Jansen recounts the circumstances that led her adopted Rwandan daughter, Jeanne, to their family in Germany. Jeanne’s chapters are told in the third person, and describe her life before, during, and after the wars in her native Rwanda that led her to be orphaned. Hanna’s chapters are told as her own first-person reactions to her daughter’s tragic experiences. Occasionally, she switches to second-person, addressing Jeanne directly, always with a mix of great sadness for what her daughter had to endure and love and admiration for the grace and strength with which she survived. As a memoir, it works, as Jeanne was only seven when the war began and had very little understanding of the sudden violence in her country. A brief timeline in the back highlights the major events up to 2005, although not much is said about the Tutsis and the Hutus, and why there was a conflict. Jeanne’s story is one of brutal violence and loss. The only person in her family to survive, she bears the scars of over a million Rwandans, both those killed and those that survive as refugees. (Age 14 and older)

Benjamin Franklin Award, Booklist Editor’s Choice, Children’s Book Committee at Bank Street College Best Children’s Book of the Year, CCBC Choices, NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People, Tayshas Reading List, YALSA Best Books for Young Adults. lmp

Originally published as Über tausend Hügel wandere ich mit dir in German by Thienemann Verlag Germany, in 2002. Translated by Elizabeth D.

"Before one fateful April day, Jeanne lived the life of a typical Rwandan girl. She fought with her little sister, went to school, and teased her brother. Then, in one horrifying night, everything changed. Political troubles unleashed a torrent of violence upon the Tutsi ethnic group. Jeanne's family, all Tutsis, fled their home and tried desperately to reach safety. They--along with nearly 1 million others--did not survive. The only survivor of her family's massacre, Jeanne witnessed unspeakable acts. But through courage, wits, and sheer force of will, she survived. Based on a true story, this haunting novel by Jeanne's adoptive mother makes unforgettably real the events of the 1994 Rwandan genocide as one family experienced it. Jeanne's story is a tribute to the human spirit and its capacity to heal.--From publisher description."--From source other than the Library of Congress