Amazon Digital Services LLC, Nick Sanchez/KJZZ

Deng Atem, author of “Jumping Over the Ram”

More than 30 years ago, a civil war in Sudan uprooted a generation of children. 20,000 of them were left orphaned or displaced — fleeing to Ethiopia and then walking for thousands of miles to Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya. Half of them died on the journey. The survivors were known as the Lost Boys of Sudan.

Nearly 4,000 of them were brought to the U.S. as refugees.

Deng Atem was one of the first of the Lost Boys to come to the U.S. And he made his new home here in Phoenix, where he has lived for more than 30 years.

Now, he’s out with a new memoir, “Jumping Over the Ram.” The Show spoke with him more about it.

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