In 1994, an estimated two million people fled the genocide by the Hutus of the minority Tutsi population in Rwanda. They sought refuge in neighboring Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo), but the bloodshed continued. Around 800,000 civilians died, both Hutus and Tutsis.

Alice on the Run: One Child’s Journey Through the Rwandan Civil War* is a YA graphic novel based on the true story of Alice Cyuzuzo, author/illustrator Gaspard Talmasse’s life partner. This year, it was named as a Global Literature in Libraries Initiative Translated YA Honor Book.  

The account starts in late April 1994 in a village near the province of Gitarama in Rwanda. This is where 5-year-old Alice lives with her parents and younger twin sisters; the story is told from her child’s perspective. Life in the village is far from tranquil. Alice comments on the grown-ups acting strange, talking in whispers and listening to the radio every evening. She then witnesses men hitting another with clubs and houses on fire on a nearby hillside. Soon a mass exodus is underway: civilians and soldiers with bundles of belongings on their heads all fleeing their homes; Alice and her family are among them.

The family’s flight marks the start of a years-long journey that sees them walk from east to west across the breadth of Zaire, some 1200 miles. There are plenty of stops and starts along the way, including a two-year interlude in a refugee camp. But disease and violence are always lurking around the corner, and Alice comes to dread the sound of gunshot, which means they have to flee yet again. With each leg of the journey, things get progressively worse. Alice recalls the pressure to continue walking despite being hot, tired and hungry. She sees people with swollen feet, infected wounds, unable to continue. She encounters abandoned children, watches a man plunge to his death in a ravine, and narrowly escapes a massacre in one of their camps. She is separated from her mother and sister, and almost loses her other sibling in a muddy river. And she ends up in an orphanage, dreaming of the day when she might see her family again.

And yet, despite the atrocities and incomprehensible hardships, Alice on the Run is an amazing story of resilience and survival, of forced displacement and return home. It also provides invaluable insights into a gruesome period in Rwandan recent history. Alice’s child’s perspective and simple language draw attention to the thousands of innocent citizens who were caught up in the conflict, without fully understanding how or why. They also shield the reader from the full-blown horror of the events. As do Gaspard Talmasse’s illustrations, which do not dwell on the gory detail, instead focusing on Alice’s experience, her journey, her family and the other people she meets along the way. This graphic novel is not an easy read by any means, but it is a necessary one. And for Alice, unlike for many in the Rwandan Civil War, there is a happy ending.

Alice on the Run: One Child’s Journey Through the Rwandan Civil War
Written and illustrated by Gaspard Talmasse
Translated from French by Nanette McGuinness
Published by Humanoids/Life Drawn, 2022

ISBN: 9781643375434

Awards: 2023 GLLI Translated YA Honor Book, 2023 Mosaic Award, 2023 Harvey Award nominee

*Review copy kindly provided by the publisher.

You can buy a copy of Alice on the Run: One Child’s Journey Through the Rwandan Civil War here or find it in a library.*

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Laura Taylor is the founder of world children’s literature blog Planet Picture Book. She is a small business copywriter, NAATI-certified translator of French into English and member of AUSIT. When she is not writing, she is reading and spending time with her two young children. She occasionally tweets @plapibo and posts at www.planetpicturebook.com