Emmanuel Jal

Jal is a typical boy, revering the warriors in uniform who stand before him and looking up to the fighter pilots who banish the enemy from the sky. As a small child he dreams of joining the military to fight the good fight. What is different about Jal is that he is not a pampered American boy playing with G.I. Joe dolls in the backyard in suburbia. Jal is a seven year old boy in war-torn, desert arid Sudan; his family is always on the run from the guns and violence. As he witnesses the deaths of family and friends, Jal's reverence and admiration for the military grows until, from a place of hatred, comes the desire for violent tortuous revenge. He wants to follow in the footsteps of his father, a commander in the Sudan People's Liberation Army. Jal hungers to go to school to be a soldier. His singular focus is to kill the enemy; and kill them, he does.

Don't let the simplicity of Jal's language fool you. His story is tragic and harsh. His manner might be sparse but it is straight an arrow, truth-telling writing. Consider this phrase, "gulping down pain like hot knives..." (p 86).… (meer)

It’s a good book that tells you the life of a Sudanese child. There are many good compelling aspects to this book. The best part was the training for Jenajesh (child soldiers). It was a very good book and should be a requirement to graduate from school. Don’t change this. It’s an extremely awesome book. On my list of good books it is third. AHS/JF

I really liked this book because the story of this child is awsome and enticing. It's also quite sad, but I still reccomend it to anyone who likes war books. Q4P3 AHS/Matt F… (meer)