War Child

In the mid-1980s, Emmanuel Jal was a seven year old Sudanese boy, living in a small village with his family. But as Sudan's civil war moved closer-with the Islamic government seizing tribal lands for water, oil, and other resources-Jal's family was forced to move again and again, seeking peace. Jal's father 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.

Orphaned and adrift, Jal lived through horror: witnessing the deaths of friends and family members; killing soldiers and civilians with a gun he could barely lift; starving to the point of near-cannibalism, and coming to the edge of suicide. But, remarkably, Jal survived; escaping the army, he began the journey that would lead him to music: recording hip-hop songs about his life and performing 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.

• ISBN: 9780312602970, 0312602979
• Author: Emmanuel Jal
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press