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A review by teenlibrarian
Soldier Boy by Keely Hutton
5.0
Powerful and hard to read book depicting the fictionalized story of a real child soldier, Ricky, abducted by the LRA, marched everywhere as a prisoner until barely trained and eventually given a gun to fight the government.
The only hope he had was that if he and his brother escaping and making it back to their ‘obeno,’ codeword for their home.
There is also the story of Sammy, a fictional amalgamation of the experience of many child soldiers, set decades in the future/present day.
Suited for a high school audience, told in 3rd person, this book naturally depicts a lot of violence that occurred. Rape is never mentioned overtly, though Ricky mentions new wives being taken from most village raids, and traded between different fighting units so no one gets too loyal to each other. Heartbreaking.
The only hope he had was that if he and his brother escaping and making it back to their ‘obeno,’ codeword for their home.
There is also the story of Sammy, a fictional amalgamation of the experience of many child soldiers, set decades in the future/present day.
Suited for a high school audience, told in 3rd person, this book naturally depicts a lot of violence that occurred. Rape is never mentioned overtly, though Ricky mentions new wives being taken from most village raids, and traded between different fighting units so no one gets too loyal to each other. Heartbreaking.