Advance Praise for DISTURBED IN THEIR NESTS

"This book represents the beginning—or a necessary reset—of an essential dialogue."
-Kirkus Reviews

​"In a follow-up to their previous collaboration, They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky (2005), Deng and Bernstein alternate telling the story of their mentoring relationship, narrating the same events from different perspectives, in an eye-opening and richly layered account."
-Bridget Thoreson, Booklist

“[As] Deng, his brother, Benson, and his cousins, Lino and Benjamin, tried to adjust to life in San Diego…the city’s strange, sometimes threatening inhabitants presented their own challenges…The book brims with stories of the boys’ bumpy adjustment…A memoir that will bring comfort to those enduring similar challenges, the book’s stories will be instructive to those committed to improving the quality of immigrants’ lives.”
-Foreword Reviews (Starred Review)

"Disturbed in Their Nests is a strikingly original work that opens a broader conversation on the momentous issues of our time: war, conflict, migration, refugees, relocation, and adjustments in new spaces, all in the context of national and global politics wrapped in a fog of confusion. The captivating stories create eyebrow-raising reflections on the nature of suffering, humane obligations to assist one another, sentiments on the weakest members of our collective humanity, the pain and anguish of survival, the redemptive power of fresh imaginations about oneself, shining positive light on otherness, the impactful moral lifeways that define memory, and the clever navigation of the long pathways from localism to cosmopolitanism that speaks to the richness and transformative capacity of social relationships."
-Toyin Falola, author of A Mouth Sweeter Than Salt

"Disturbed in Their Nests offers evidence that all of us are always one decision or moment away from a totally different life. Judy and Alepho's experiences illustrate how to overcome fear of the unknown and to engage in relationships that foster respect for our common humanity."
-Anita Ayers Henderlight, executive director of Africa Education & Leadership Initiative

"This book is a double story of survival…Beautifully crafted in their two voices, Disturbed in Their Nests shows what happens when different cultures meet."
-Lucy Rose Fischer, PhD, author of Linked Lives: Adult Daughters and Their Mothers

"At a time when our immigration and refugee programs are under siege, Disturbed in Their Nests is a welcomed breath of reality."
-Bob Montgomery, executive director, International Rescue Committee (IRC) San Diego, retired

"There are basically two opposing ways for citizens of the rich nations to respond to the refugee crisis. One is to cringe in fear, lashing out at the new arrivals, bombarding them with abuse and threats. The other way is to adopt the ancient principles of hospitality, welcoming the victims and learning from them. The writers of Disturbed in Their Nests show that taking this humanitarian option is neither easy nor straightforward; the meeting of two alien cultures can be experienced as a clash and a challenge. However, the fundamental message of the book is that the mutual struggle for understanding by the new and the old bestows profound benefits on both parties. In the end, the virtuous course turns out also to be the most profitable."
-Dr. Philip Cassell, PhD Sociology, Our Lady of the Sacred Heart College, Melbourne, Australia