Child Soldier is one of our nonfiction book club books for older members.
It is a biography of Michel Chikwanine.
When he was five years old he was abducted by rebel forces in The Democratic
Republic of Congo and forced to be a child soldier. Luckily, he managed to
escape, but his experiences scarred him. From this narrative, we learn about
his life before, during, and after this event. We learn how the situation in his country
of origin deteriorated so much that this kind of activity became almost commonplace.
His father was an activist who spoke
against the corruption and lies of governments and rebel forces. Eventually he
was kidnapped by them but managed to escape. Then the soldiers came to Michel's
home. The family survived, but were forced to flee from their homes.
Eventually they connected up with their father at a refugee camp.
It wasn't until six years later that Michel, his mother and younger
sister, were allowed to come to Canada. His father was poisoned and one of his
other sisters disappeared before they could bring her over to be with
them.
Life here in Canada was difficult. They
had to work hard to survive financially. But it was also difficult to
understand that it wasn't that people here didn't care, it was that they didn't
understand what is going on in other parts of the world.
This book goes a long way to remedying
this.
There are some people who think books in graphic form are simple. They are wrong. This book is one of many being published these days that show us that graphic representation of challenging material makes it much more accessible and profound. Claudia Davila's brilliant illustrations capture the innocence of Michel's younger days, the beauty of his homeland, and the darkness of the days that followed.
I appreciated the end section that tells
us more about Michel's life here. Following that is more information about what
it means to be a child soldier and even suggestions for what students here can
do about it.
I'm leaving you with a few facts from this book:
"an estimated 250,000 children under the age of 18 are currently serving in government armed forces or armed rebel groups.
Of that number, it is estimated that over 40% are girls. "
I envision some profound conversations about this one in book club.
I hope you are motivated to read the book and find out what you can do about it.
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