War+Brothers

//War Brothers// by Sharon McKay
Booktalk by Chris MacLennan

This book talk should be done in Jacob's voice. If you can find some kind of army or camouflage to wear it would add to the book talk.

Read the introduction by Jacob – pages xii – xiv

Now I must take you back to 2002 when it all started. I had just started a new term at school. The Catholic school I attended was supposed to be safe. We had guards on the outside walls, and bars on the windows. My father never would have sent me back to school if he had suspected any kind of danger. His oldest friends had just lost his grandson to the LRA soldiers. It was the middle of the night. We woke up to a terrible sound of banging. The LRA soldiers broke into our dorm room. They marched us all into the jungle. Our teacher was unconscious. The guards were cowards, and had all run away. We marched through the jungle for hours with no food, and no water. We arrived at the rebel village. The commander explained the rules to us. I could not understand many of the rules, but I was soon to learn what happened if you broke one. The commander said this:

Page 90- you are rebels now …………… know the rules

These are the rules the commander told us.

-Don’t fight with food in your mouth -Don’t shout across a river -Don’t disrespect stones. They have great power. Don’t make a fire with stones. Don’t urinate on stones. -Don’t fear the bullets from the government guns. A Jesus cross drawn on your body will protect you. -Don’t ever touch alcohol or drugs -Don’t talk to the girls. If you do, the girl will be killed. You will be beaten.

Then we go to see what actually happened if you broke one of the rules

Page 81 – Now I will tell you…. Her ears had been cut off.

Then we were told the last rule. The most terrible rule of all. If you wanted to eat you had to join the rebels and take part in the killing. If you refused, you would simply starve to death.

I am with my friends Paul and Tony. Adam my other friend is dead. We are only 14 years old. We are too young to be in this cruel rebel army. And then there is Norman. Small, skinny, Norman who is only 10 years old. How will we survive? Will we have to become killers like our captors? Will my father and the government soldiers try to rescue us? To find out what happens to my friends and me, you must read War Brothers by Sharon McKay.

Sharon McKay went to Uganda in 2007 t interview child soldiers. Much of what happened to Jacob and his friends happened in real life to child soldiers in Uganda. Half of the proceeds from this book goes to an organization called GULUWALK. This organization helps the children in Northern Uganda. Many have been child soldiers.