ALA Booklist

The desperate search for water is the haunting drama in this spare contemporary survival story. After her parents are slaughtered, Sarel runs from home into the dry desert. Her dog Nandi runs with her. In the city, young Musa escapes from the gang that kept him prisoner. Can the three fugitives trust each other and survive together? The girl, the boy, and the dog tell their stories in spare alternating narratives as they run through the drought-stricken countryside, remembering the horror left behind, and always driven by the overwhelming search for water. Musa has the special power to use dowsing sticks to find water beneath the ground, which is why his captors held him. Now can he find a well or a river to save himself and his companions? From the title on, the direct, powerful prose in this first novel dramatizes the exciting contemporary survival story. The climax will stay with readers: the elemental bliss of slaking thirst with a drink of water at last. Fans of Gary Paulsen's Hatchet (1987) will want this.

Horn Book

With lyrically descriptive narration from three perspectives, this survival story set in a lawless, drought-ridden African desert presents the struggles of Sarel, an orphaned girl; her dog, Nandi; and Musa, a boy with a spiritual talent for finding water, this setting's rare, commoditized resource. Crowder creates a compelling view of three determined beings courageously willing to endure brutal, widespread carnage.

Kirkus Reviews

With severe drought, child enslavement, and multiple shootings of people and dogs, this slim volume isn't for the faint of heart, though it repays those who soldier on. In an unspecified African "place of dust and death," in a story somewhere between realism and fable, Nandi the dog narrates an opening scene in which Sarel sees her parents gunned down. The gunmen, failing to find a water source, set the house afire and depart, leaving Sarel orphaned on her desert homestead. An underground grotto with a well sustains Sarel and her pack of dogs--fully family to her--while they recover from smoke inhalation and bullet wounds. In a nearby city, Musa sits in chains, taken outdoors only when gunmen (those who shot Sarel's parents) need a dowser--Musa hears a buzz in his skull when water's nearby. One generation ago, there were faucets and lawn sprinklers; now, gangs kill for a water bottle. When Musa escapes and Sarel's well runs dry, the tale's fablelike nature makes their meeting inevitable, even in the desert. The narration uses primarily Sarel's and Musa's perspectives, describing nature sparely and vividly. Thirst and heat are palpable as kids and dogs fight fatal dehydration. Occasionally, Nandi narrates, in broken English more distracting than doglike. A wrenching piece with a wisp of hope for the protagonists if not for the rest of their world. (Fiction. 12-14)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Set in a barren, drought-ravaged country, Crowder's tense and often bleak debut threads together the voices of Sarel, who witnesses the shooting deaths of her parents at the hands of gang members in search of water; Musa, a boy kidnapped and abused by the gang, which exploits him for his dowsing talents; and Nandi, one of Sarel's beloved dogs. Since the intruders set Sarel's family homestead on fire, leaving the earth "burned black," Sarel sleeps alongside the dogs in the kennel. By day, she forages for food in the wilderness and shares what little water she can collect with the animals. After Musa escapes from his captors and stumbles onto Sarel's turf, starving and injured, she nurses him back to health, and the two pool their skills to survive. Taut yet descriptive, Crowder's writing dramatically captures the characters' desperation; the blistering heat and their acute hunger and thirst are entirely persuasive. Though a final violent encounter has a disturbing apocalyptic edge, the novel concludes on an uplifting note-close to the only one heard throughout this sobering story. Ages 10-14. Agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary Agency. (June)

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8 Imagine life with no water-no rain, no dew, no rivers or lakes-nothing. This sparely written tale tells of two young teens working together to survive a devastating drought in southern Africa. Musa, an African boy, has been sold into slavery because of his dowsing ability. His cruel owners keep him alive only to use his talents. Sarel, a Caucasian girl, faces an uncertain future after her parents are brutally shot by thugs looking for water. Alone with her family's pack of Rhodesian ridgebacks in the African bush, she decides to leave her homestead. But Nandi, leader of the dog pack, refuses to leave. She senses help is coming. Musa escapes his captors and flees toward the only water source he senses-across the desert, near Sarel's home. Nearly dead from dehydration, he collapses upon meeting Sarel. Grudgingly, she nurses him back to health. Together, they attempt to find what Musa knows is there. The story moves well, alternating among the perspectives of Sarel, Musa, and Nandi. However, it is slightly jarring to continually transition between human and canine perspectives. The writing, especially the descriptions of the drought conditions and extreme thirst, is excellent. Readers develop a cheerleader relationship with Sarel and Musa, hoping with each chapter that they will find water, somewhere, somehow. This is by no means an essential purchase, but it is a compelling read. Lisa Crandall, formerly at the Capital Area District Library, Holt, MI