Child Soldiers

“I lost my childhood. I didn’t play football or video games. Or have birthdays or the love of a family.” – Emmanual Jal, South-Sudanese Canadian musician and former child soldier

Canada is about to become the first country in the world to issue military guidelines on how to deal with child soldiers. Retired senator Romeo Dallaire – who wrote the forward for Eric Walter’s Shattered, a young-adult novel about a soldier suffering post-traumatic stress disorder – helped draft the new rules.

Under the proposed guidelines, Canadian troops will be taught how to identify child soldiers who might be a threat to them. They will be taught how to care for child soldiers who are detained. These new guidelines are vital as Canadian troops expect to encounter more and more child soldiers in coming years.  Canada’s Notional Post story

Here are five books about the plight of child soldiers around the world:

Humphries, Jessica Dee and Michel Chikwanine. Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls are Used in War. Toronto: Kids Can Press, 2015.

This graphic novel tells the true story of author Michel Chikwanine who came to Canada from the Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa when he was 16 years old. Background information and suggestions for further research accompany this powerful autobiography recommended for readers 11 years old and up.

McCormick, Patricia. Never Fall Down. New York : Balzer + Bray, 2012.
Arn is forced to serve as a child soldier in Cambodia in this disturbing novel – based on a true story – recommended for readers thirteen years old and up.

 

McKay, Sharon E. War Brothers. Toronto: Puffin Canada, 2008.
Three children – Hannah, Jacob, and Oteka – find themselves trapped in Africa’s Lord’s Resistance Army in this suspense-filled novel for readers 12 years old and up. 

 

Perkins, Mitali. Bamboo People. Watertown, Mass.: Charlesbridge, 2010.
Chiko – forced to join the Burmese army- and Tu Reh – a runaway from a refugee camp – unexpectedly stumble upon each other in the jungle in this harrowing novel for readers 12 years old and up.

 

Stratton, Allan. Chanda’s Wars. Toronto: HarperCollins, 2008.
African teenager Chanda Kabelo and her siblings try to escape after they are kidnapped by General Mandiki’s rebel army in this dramatic novel recommended for readers thirteen years old and up.

 Roméo Dallaire Child Soldiers Initiative

 

Fairy Tales for Teens

Great novels give us new information and new ideas. They also make us more humble. They help us see ourselves as part of the universe rather than at the centre of it. They give us courage to keep going when none of our plans work out and we have to start all over again.  

Here are two stories about current world events that are unfortunately not so great, even though they are quite entertaining and even informative:

 

Something in Between by Melissa de la Cruz (Harlequin Teen, 2016) is not a great novel. It tells the story of a teenager who wins a National Scholarship Award but discovers she is ineligible. Her Filipino parents have been working without proper documentation and now the whole family is about to be deported. Jasmine, a popular cheerleader, has always worked hard to do everything perfectly. Now all her plans are in jeopardy because her parents have failed to become legal residents of the U.S.A.  

The portrayal of life for undocumented residents is informative. The depiction of emotional pain encourages empathy. But the story is altogether too much of a fairy tale: Jasmine is a self-pitying heroine who must prevail over the forces of injustice. This 432-page novel, inspired by the author’s experiences, is recommended for teenagers looking for a romance story that doesn’t threaten their own sense of self-importance.

Red Glass by Laura Resau (Delacorte Press, 2007) is another disappointing novel. Sixteen-year-old Sophie learns more about life for illegal immigrants while travelling from Arizona to Mexico and Guatemala. The story vividly portrays the hardships faced by people fleeing their homelands. It loudly declares the unfairness of showing compassion for refugees from Europe while rejecting immigrants from Central America.  And that is much of the problem. Everything is just so obvious. And so this book, too, turns into a fairy tale: an innocent heroine learning to overcome her fears in order to show her true goodness. Despite winning several awards, this 275-page novel can only be recommended for readers willing to learn about current events but really wanting a romance.

Click HERE to learn how to assess novels and picture books.

Click HERE for books on migration and refugees.

You, Too, Were Once Strangers

“While every refugee’s story is different and their anguish personal, they all share a common thread of uncommon courage – the courage not only to survive, but to persevere and rebuild their shattered lives.” – Antonio Guterres, U.N. Secretary-General

There are many novels about courageous people who helped others during the Holocaust. There are far fewer about brave people who help others today; one of the most powerful is this novel from Britain. 

Halahmy, Miriam. Hidden. New York: Holiday House, 2016.

“Fourteen-year-old Alix is faced with a huge moral dilemma when she helps pull an illegal Iraqi immigrant from the incoming tide on the coastal English island where she lives.” – CIP.  Stories written in present tense from the first-person point of view are frequently tiresome in their self-obsession but this novel is a remarkable exception. Alix has no perfect life and no illusions about her own importance. What she has is the ability to see life from someone else’s point of view. Discovering the horror of life for refugees fleeing torture and seeking asylum opens her heart and reveals her courage in this novel highly recommended for all readers 12 years old and up. [England; Family problems; Friendship; Iraqis; Racism; Refugees; Schools; Secrets]

“For a start, people who traveled for so many miles through such horrific conditions in order to find work cannot accurately be portrayed as lazy benefit-scroungers”. – Patrick Kingsley, British journalist

Find more books about migration and refugees HERE

“I urge you to celebrate the extraordinary courage and contributions of refugees past and present.” – Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General

Find information and lessons on human migration HERE.