McKay, Sharon E. & Lafrance, Daniel. War Brothers The Graphic Novel. Toronto: Annick Press, 2013. 978-1-55451-489-2. 164 p. $27.95. Gr. 9 and up.

Jacob believes he is safe from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), he and his friends attend George Jones Seminary boarding school in Uganda. His father has even talked the Headmaster into hiring extra guards so the children are safe from the LRA, but to no avail, the boys are abducted by the LRA the very first night. The boys walk for more than two days and are deprived of food and water, when one of them collapses, the others are forced to beat him to death with logs or suffer the same fate. Graphic and visceral, this book is not for the faint of heart. It is a book about the very real affects of war on child soldiers, the children themselves victims of countless horrors. Escape is improbable, and yet some of these children manage to escape, only to be shunned by their families and neighbors. War Brothers is a harrowing, true story that will resonate with me for a long time because of the disturbing nature of the subject matter. War Brothers addresses Common Core Standards 11-12.6 and 11-12.7.

741.5 Graphic Novel, Child Soldiers-Uganda             Kathryn Gilbride, North Pocono Middle and High Schools