In an era of cultural clashes, John Bul Dau's often humorous stories of adapting to life in the United States offer proof that we can bridge our differences peacefully. His quiet pride, true humility, deep seriousness, compassionate courage, and remarkable achievements will take every reader's breath away.

Winner of both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, God Grew Tired of Us explores …

Winner of both the Grand Jury Prize and the Audience Award at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival, God Grew Tired of Us explores the indomitable spirit of three "Lost Boys" from the Sudan who leave their homeland, triumph over seemingly insurmountable adversities, and move to America, where they build active and fulfilling new lives but remain deeply committed to helping the friends and family they have left behind.

Orphaned by a tumultuous civil war and traveling barefoot across the sub-Saharan desert, John Bul Dau, Daniel Abol Pach, and Panther Blor were among the 25,000 "Lost Boys" (ages 3 to 13) who fled villages, formed surrogate families and sought refuge from famine, disease, wild animals, and attacks from rebel soldiers. Named by a journalist after Peter Pan's posse of orphans who protected and provided for each other, the "Lost Boys" traveled together for five years and against all odds crossed into the UN's refugee camp in Kakuma, Kenya. A journey's end for some, it was only the beginning for John, Daniel and Panther, who along with 3,800 other young survivors, were selected to re-settle in the United States.

From the trans-Atlantic flights that take them to America—an eye-opening experience for young men who had never been on an airplane—to a supermarket visit in Pittsburgh where they encounter an endless bounty of food, to the painstaking efforts that each one makes to find family members back in Africa, the cameras observe three resilient young men in a complex and confusing western world.

However, John, Daniel and Panther are able to make a home wherever they find themselves and, in the process, illuminate all that has been gained and much that has been lost in the continuing immigrant experience of coming to America.

From their first visit to the Kakuma refugee camp in July 2001, Christopher Quinn, Tommy Walker, and their small crew began to gather testimony about the hardships of crossing the desert on foot and the dangers of life in a refugee camp. Two weeks later, they were boarding a plane with many other joyful but nervous young men who had been selected by the International Rescue Committee to be relocated in America. As the plane took off and the filmmakers watched the happy yet apprehensive faces around them, they discovered that their story was only beginning.

Michael S. Sweeney is a professor of journalism at Utah State University. He is the author of the acclaimed book Secrets of Victory, which was named 2001 Book of the Year by the American Journalism Historians Association.

"This is a memoir of terror, triumph and humour as Bul Dau adapts to his new life, learning along the way that differences can be bridged peacefully."—Windsor Star (Ontario)

"One sweetly funny moment in this book occurs when Dau meets a nice guy named Brad, who turns out to be the film's producer, Brad Pitt."—Times-Picayune (New Orleans)