War Child, Emmanuel Jal
War Child, Emmanuel Jal
List: $26.99 | Sale: $18.89
Club: $13.49

War Child
A Child Soldier's Story

Author: Emmanuel Jal

Narrator: Ademola Adeyemo

Unabridged: 8 hr 59 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 02/03/2009


Synopsis

In the mid-1980s, Emmanuel Jal was a seven year old Sudanese boy, living in a small village with his parents, aunts, uncles, and siblings. But as Sudan's civil war moved closer—with the Islamic government seizing tribal lands for water, oil, and other resources—Jal's family moved again and again, seeking peace. Then, on one terrible day, Jal was separated from his mother, and later learned she had been killed; his father Simon rose to become a powerful commander in the Christian Sudanese Liberation Army, fighting for the freedom of Sudan. Soon, Jal was conscripted into that army, one of 10,000 child soldiers, and fought through two separate civil wars over nearly a decade.

But, remarkably, Jal survived, and his life began to change when he was adopted by a British aid worker. He began the journey that would lead him to change his name and to music: recording and releasing his own album, which produced the number one hip-hop single in Kenya, and from there went on to perform with Moby, Bono, Peter Gabriel, and other international music stars.

Shocking, inspiring, and finally hopeful, War Child is a memoir by a unique young man, who is determined to tell his story and in so doing bring peace to his homeland.

About Emmanuel Jal

EMMANUEL JAL lives in London. His music has been featured in the movie Blood Diamond, the documentary God Grew Tired of Us, and in three episodes of ER. He is a spokesman for Amnesty International and Oxfam, and has done work for Save the Children, UNICEF, World Food Programme, Christian Aid, and other charities, and has established his own charitable foundation, Gua Africa, to help former Sudanese child soldiers. He has been featured in Time Magazine, USA Today, the Washington Post, Newsweek.com, and on NPR, CNN, Fox, MTV, and the BBC. A documentary about Jal’s life, also called War Child, premiered to acclaim at the February 2008 Berlin Film Festival and the April 2008 Tribeca Film Festival. His first U.S. album War Child was released in May 2008.

About Ademola Adeyemo

Joseph Ademola Adeyemo made his acting debut in "The Last Days of Toussaint L'Ouverture", a film about the legendary hero. Adémóla has also infused his powerful voice in a collaboration with political activist, artist, and author Emmanuel Jal, in the audio book War Child: a tumultuous tale of a Sudanese child soldier.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Thomas on August 04, 2011

An at-times horrifying read, but in the end a truly inspiring biography and a great portrayal of the awful ways war affects children and young adults. "War Child" is not for someone inclined to freak out at explicit descriptions of violence and misery, or famine-level poverty, hatred (at times racial......more

Goodreads review by Paula3 on July 02, 2015

A first person account from one of the Lost Boys of Sudan that will leave you saddened, yet hopeful. Emmanuel Jal truly explemplifies the resiliency of the human spirit and how one never knows how we can affect the lives of those we meet. Jal provides very vivid and detailed accounts of the atrociti......more

Goodreads review by Alexandria on May 20, 2022

I personally somewhat liked it, somewhat didn't. It was a good book, I just personally found it hard to understand. It also repeats the same thing over and over again. Like, he was in this war, now he's in this war, now he's explaining about another war and how he survived. So, it's kinda all over t......more

Goodreads review by sydney kueber on October 24, 2019

War child is all about war, (as stated in the name). A boy (the main character) goes through the problems of losing teammates, friends and family. The boy is in war, who has to fight and try to make it out alive. But, along the way he loses many friends, teammates, and people he may even consider f......more

Goodreads review by Omar on April 08, 2022

The reason I liked this is because it is based on a real conflict and the journies that refugees take through their life. The fact that Emmanuel lost his dad and mom, it was something that many suffer from, and thats sad. I don't think he wanted to fight for the SPLA's for his country but he had to......more


Quotes

“I was enormously impressed meeting Emmanuel Jal. He is an extraordinary artist, led by the heart….I felt I was meeting a man with the potential of a young Bob Marley. There is a generosity and compassion in his approach to the world that is an inspiration to me, and I am sure it will be to many others.” —Peter Gabriel