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Article Excerpt
GENERAL
Armstrong, J. (2002). Shattered: Stories of children and war. New York: Knopf. Realistic short stories on the theme of war by writers for children and young adults. Gr. 4-8 DK in association with UNICEF. (2002). A life like mine: How children live around the world. New York: DK Publishing.
An informational text that portrays children around the world, including internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees. Gr. K-8
Dunmore, H. (2002). Amina's blanket. Ill. by P. Dainton. New York: Crabtree. Although not the most artful of children's literature, this transitional book nevertheless tells a touching story of a girl, Josie, who, along with her class, knits a blanket to send to those suffering because of war. Josie dreams of a girl, Amina, whom she later sees in a photograph and so discovers she is real. Gr. K-3
Ellis, D. (2008). Off to war: Voices of soldiers' children. Toronto: Groundwood. Ellis interviews the children of soldiers in Canada and the United States. The theme of military families helping each other is prevalent. The children also discuss the hardship of living with a parent who has posttraumatic stress disorder, as well as their ideas for ending war. Gr. 4-8
Greenfield, E. (2006). When the horses ride by: Children in time of war. Ill. by J. S. Gilchrist. New York: Lee & Low. Poems on the experience of war, including the hopes of an Iraqi child. Gr. 2-8
Naidoo, B. (2004). Making it home: Real-life stories from children forced to flee. New York: Dial. Naidoo's interviews with children worldwide are insightful. Gr. 4-8
AFRICA
Wilkes, S. (1994). One day we had to run! Refugee children tell their stories in words and paintings. Brookfield, CT: Millbrook. Stories from the Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, and Rwanda, powerfully told. Gr. 4-8
AIDS in Africa
Ellis, D. (2004). The heaven shop. Toronto: Fitzhenry & Whiteside. In this novel, Binti, a teen actress in AIDS education plays and radio in Malawi, loses her mother and then her father to AIDS. She and her siblings are split up among relatives, who treat them harshly. Because the relatives live far away and she must move, Binti loses her acting job. She is eventually reunited with her loving grandmother, who has taken in many orphans. While not graphically described, rape and prostitution for survival may make this an inappropriate book for some. Gr. 6-8 Ellis, D. (2005). Our stories, our songs: African children talk about AIDS. Toronto: Fitzhenry & Whiteside. Despite the hardships, children find ways to create art and make meaning of their lives. Their narratives are interspersed with helpful information about the disease. Gr. 4-8
Angola
Flegg, A. (2000). The cinnamon tree: A novel set in Africa. Dublin, Ireland: O'Brien Press. While Flegg's choice to create an imaginary country set in Africa, loosely based on Angola, may unintentionally imply that all African countries are alike, his novel honors the experience of child landmine victims. Yola, who travels to Ireland for her prosthetic, is a believable character dealing with her loss. Gr. 4-8
Ethiopia
Asgedom, M. (2001). Of beetles and angels: A boy's remarkable journey from a refugee camp to Harvard. Boston: Little, Brown. Asgedom, a refugee from Ethiopia who received a scholarship to Harvard, chronicles his journey in this autobiography and describes the misunderstandings people experience when moving from one culture to another. Gr. 4-8
Zephaniah, B. (2001). Refugee boy. New York: Bloomsbury. A young London author of Jamaican descent writes about a refugee escaping from the Ethiopian-Eritrean conflict to the United Kingdom. Gr. 4-8
Kenya
Mwangi, M. (2005). The Mzungu boy. Toronto: Groundwood/House of Anansi. (Original work published 1990). This novel is about the Mau Mau rebellion of the 1950s, when British colonialists killed over 12,000 Kenyans. The young protagonist exercises bravery and faces conflict as family members respond differently to the situation. Gr. 4-8
Mozambique
Mankell, H. (2003). Secrets in the fire. Toronto: Annick. (Orginal work published in 1995). Mankell, a Swedish author, bases his novel on the real-life...
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