Disturbed in Their Nests

When he arrived in America at nineteen years old, Sudanese refugee Alephonsion Deng had never owned shoes or flipped a light switch. The suburban mom who greeted him at the International Rescue Committee in San Diego, Judy Bernstein, had never left her SUV to ride the bus. This, their second work-the story of Alepho's first year in America-recounts the initial collision of their cultures, the growing trust, and ultimate friendship in adjusting Alepho to his new country, and it reveals two very different ideas about America and its promises.