Child Soldier - (CitizenKid) by Michel Chikwanine & Jessica Dee Humphreys (Paperback)

About the Book

Michel is like many other five-year-olds: he has a loving family and spends his days going to school and playing soccer. But in 1993, the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Michel and his family live, is a country in tumult. One afternoon Michel and his friends are kidnapped by rebel militants and forced to become child soldiers. Child Soldier is the sometimes heartbreaking but ultimately inspiring true story of the triumph of the human spirit.

Book Synopsis

Michel Chikwanine was five years old when he was abducted from his school-yard soccer game in the Democratic Republic of Congo and forced to become a soldier for a brutal rebel militia. Against the odds, Michel managed to escape and find his way back to his family, but he was never the same again. After immigrating to Canada, Michel was encouraged by a teacher to share what happened to him in order to raise awareness about child soldiers around the world, and this book is part of that effort. Told in the first person and presented in a graphic novel format, the gripping story of Michel's experience is moving and unsettling. But the humanity he exhibits in the telling, along with Claudia Dávila's illustrations, which evoke rather than depict the violent elements of the story, makes the book accessible for this age group and, ultimately, reassuring and hopeful. The back matter contains further information, as well as suggestions for ways children can help. This is a perfect resource for engaging youngsters in social studies lessons on global awareness and social justice issues, and would easily spark classroom discussions about conflict, children's rights and even bullying. Michel's actions took enormous courage, but he makes clear that he was and still is an ordinary person, no different from his readers. He believes everyone can do something to make the world a better place, and so he shares what his father told him: "If you ever think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping in a room with a mosquito."

Review Quotes

Graphic in format but not detail ...The visual element gives this memoir particular immediacy for audiences who "don't understand what is happening right now, to kids just like them."--Kirkus Reviews

... Child Soldier conveys Michel's horrific experience with sensitivity, insight, and skill ... also providing readers with relevant information about the geography and history of the country.--Quill & Quire, starred review

An enlightening, accessible, and, above all, child-friendly introduction to the issue.--School Library Journal, starred review

... an eye-opening and heartbreaking account of Chikwanine's kidnapping at the age of five.--Quill & Quire

... the direct first-person narration lays bare the boy's confusion and pain ...[while] Dávila's panel sequences temper the story's atrocities ...--Publishers Weekly

An unforgettable book that provides factual information about civil wars and especially child soldiers.--Resource Links

The narration includes enough history of the Congo to give context to the personal story, while the back matter provides more information about child soldiers.--Booklist

About the Author

Born in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Michel Chikwanine has experienced civil war, political upheaval and poverty, emerging as an individual wise beyond his years. Forced by these circumstances to leave his home country at the age of 11 as a refugee, Michel has since traveled to 35 African countries, witnessing firsthand the problems faced by the developing world, but also the beauty of the communities and people who live there.@michelchikwan