“Truly fearless writing … culturally rich and completely engrossing.”
Starred Reviews for Running the Rift
“Benaron accomplishes the improbable feat of wringing genuine loveliness from unspeakable horror ... [Running the Rift] conveys so profoundly the joys of family, friendship, and community.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
“[An] unflinching and beautifully crafted account of a people and their survival ... Highly recommended; readers who loved Khaled Hosseini's The Kite Runner will appreciate.”—Library Journal, starred review
“Benaron shines is in her tender descriptions of Rwandan's natural beauty and in her creation of Jean Patrick, a hero whose noble innocence and genuine human warmth are impossible not to love.”—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
Naomi Benaron on writing Running the Rift
Like my protagonist, Jean Patrick Nkuba, I run because I have to run. I also write because I have to write, because words and stanzas and stories spin in my mind no matter what else I am doing: running, swimming, making dinner. And I told the story of Jean Patrick Nkuba, a young Tutsi boy, because his voice would not let me be until I wrote it down.
