with kids ranging in age from eight to 19 years old. The children give their personal stories, their views on the war, and their aspirations for the future. Some await immigration visas to the U.S., the very country that bombed their homes in the first place. Naturally, many have mixed emotions about this, while others emphasize the similarities they feel they have with American children. At times, the contrast between the simple language of these child refugees and the horrific events they relate is wrenching. An eight-year-old boy, describing an episode in which American soldiers burst into his home and beat his father and uncles, explains, “Some soldiers had the job of yelling and arresting. Other soldiers had the job of breaking furniture and making a mess.” A 12-year-old boy, whose brother’s murdered corpse was left on a rubbish heap, speculates, “I don’t know if they killed him as part of the war or if they just killed him because they were mean anyway.” Children of War is a companion volume to last year’s Off to War: Voices of Soldier’s Children, which collected accounts of the offspring of American and Canadian soldiers. It is a necessary companion, too, filling in the perspective that was (somewhat necessarily) elided in the previous book. Here, Ellis prefaces each account with mostly dispassionate information about the history of Iraq, its various ethnic groups (some of these children were already marginalized within their country), and life before the war, although at times her anger with America’s role in the suffering is palpable. Despite their youth, these children are often astoundingly perspicacious. Twelve-year-old Haneen summarizes the events leading up to the American-led invasion this way: “The war happened because Iraq has oil. And there is a high building somewhere in America that was blown up. They thought Iraq blew it up, so that’s why they blew up places in Iraq.” A theme running through both of these books is the notion of children denied what is rightfully theirs: a childhood. And it is not just the editors saying this, it is the children themselves, who are all too keenly aware of what they are missing out on. It’s an idea that should resonate profoundly with young people here, who may well find themselves having the privilege of sharing a classroom with some of these remarkable, resilient, yet deeply scarred children.
About the Author
Sharon McKay is an award-winning author of many books for parents and children, including Penelope from the Our Canadian Girl series. Her first young adult novel, Charlie Wilcox, won the Geoffrey Bilson Award and was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award and the Ruth Schwartz Award. Charlie Wilcox's Great War, the sequel, was nominated for a 2003 Red Maple Award. Esther, her most recent novel for young adults, was shortlisted for a 2004 Governor General's Award.