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War child : a child soldier's story
Jal, Emmanuel.
Adult Nonfiction 962.4043 J
From Library Journal:
During his childhood, Sudanese hip-hop artist Jal was among the many young soldiers conscripted to fight for the Sudan People's Liberation Army in a series of civil wars that wracked his homeland starting in the mid-1980s. Jal presents a disturbing and visceral memoir of his tragic lost childhood, overflowing with nightmarish images of death, cruelty, horror, and violence. Jal survived attacks on his village, a long forced march to Ethiopia, a brutal indoctrination into soldierhood, close-combat battles, and a famine-plagued trek across a desert that few of his fellow travelers survived. Jal tells his story in spare, direct, and searing prose that leaves nothing to the imagination and offers a close-up view of the damage done to the psyches of children turned into warriors. Focused firmly on his own personal experiences, he spends little time explaining the complex root causes of the conflicts in which he fought; readers seeking greater historical and political background may prefer Daoud Hari's The Translator. Similar in subject to Ishmael Beah's best-selling A Long Way Gone, Jal's moving memoir is recommended for all larger public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/08.]-Ingrid Levin, Salve Regina Univ. Lib., Newport, RI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Jal, Emmanuel.
Adult Nonfiction 962.4043 J
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From Library Journal:
During his childhood, Sudanese hip-hop artist Jal was among the many young soldiers conscripted to fight for the Sudan People's Liberation Army in a series of civil wars that wracked his homeland starting in the mid-1980s. Jal presents a disturbing and visceral memoir of his tragic lost childhood, overflowing with nightmarish images of death, cruelty, horror, and violence. Jal survived attacks on his village, a long forced march to Ethiopia, a brutal indoctrination into soldierhood, close-combat battles, and a famine-plagued trek across a desert that few of his fellow travelers survived. Jal tells his story in spare, direct, and searing prose that leaves nothing to the imagination and offers a close-up view of the damage done to the psyches of children turned into warriors. Focused firmly on his own personal experiences, he spends little time explaining the complex root causes of the conflicts in which he fought; readers seeking greater historical and political background may prefer Daoud Hari's The Translator. Similar in subject to Ishmael Beah's best-selling A Long Way Gone, Jal's moving memoir is recommended for all larger public libraries. [See Prepub Alert, LJ 10/15/08.]-Ingrid Levin, Salve Regina Univ. Lib., Newport, RI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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