They Poured Fire On Us From The Sky: The True Story of Three Lost Boys from Sudan

The book is narrated in alternating chapters featuring the voices, perspectives, and experiences of three different Lost Boys. How does this structure contribute to the tone and pacing of the narrative? How does it help to illuminate the book’s key themes?

War forced the boys to rapidly grow up, and The Journey From Childhood to Adulthood Under Extreme Circumstances is one of the central themes in the book. How did their experiences affect the boys’ personal development? How did their experiences compare to those of the adults mentioned in the text?

Examine the role that education played in the boys’ lives. How did the boys conceive of the nature and role of education?

The boys encountered many other suffering people, some of whom treated them with mercy and some of whom responded callously. How does the text explore the tensions between empathy and cruelty that the boys experience throughout their journeys?

Analyze how the specific historical, geographical, and political contexts of Sudan exacerbated the boys’ struggles throughout the war. How are these various elements depicted? What challenges are presented by each?

American aid was what eventually helped the Lost Boys leave Sudan and find new homes elsewhere; however, the American presence during the Sudanese civil conflict was more layered and complicated than this. Research the history of the United States’ involvement with Sudan predating the Second Sudanese Civil War. How may it have influenced subsequent events?

The boys faced special challenges when living in the refugee camps, even though they had then achieved a degree of safety. How are the challenges of refugee life explored in the text?

Compare They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky with another memoir dealing with a childhood in the midst of civil war, such as Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone (2007). What themes and ideas do the two texts share in common? In what ways do they differ?