Child Soldier: When Boys and Girls Are Used in War

Reviewed by: Jill O'Connor - North Yarmouth Academy, Yarmouth, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: September 16, 2015

Review

This graphic novel is the story of Michel Chikwanine, who grew up in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and who was abducted by a military group when he was five years old and forced to become a child soldier. The book mostly talks about his experience and relates it to the larger issue of using children in warfare; there is no direct personal story about a girl being used in war, though this is well-covered in the author's note. The illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to Chikwanine's story. Davila uses a sepia palette when illustrating the factual parts of the book, i.e. the geography of Democratic Republic of Congo, the definition of genocide, and full-color when telling Chikwanine's story. This is another book in the CitizenKid collection and, as such, has many pages of back matter that offer additional information about the topic of child soldiers and many ways for children/students to get involved if they are moved by the story. This book would be best used in a classroom with a teacher helping assimilate the information, but students who have learned about genocide or child soldiers will find this story compelling. Recommend.

Overall Book Score: very good