First published 2008
This photographic collection examines the reality of child warfare through the lenses of international photographers and the voices of those who escaped. The book documents how boys and girls worldwide become soldiers through abduction, manipulation, or desperation to flee poverty. Contributors include essays by Jo Becker, Jimmi Briggs, Dick Durbin, Emmanuel Jal, and Michael Wessells alongside powerful imagery. Tim Hetherington captures scenes from Liberia while Roger Lemoyne and Cedric Gerbehaye document the Congo. Ami Vitale follows child Maoist recruits in Nepal. Additional coverage spans Burma, Colombia, the Central African Republic, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Palestine. The work traces these children's experiences from recruitment through combat roles to eventual demobilization and recovery efforts. Half a million children have participated in armed conflicts globally, serving not only as fighters but as spies, messengers, mine layers, and servants.
Genres: biography, history, politics, social-issues, non-fiction, photography, africa, activism
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: documentary, first-hand-accounts, social-commentary
Setting: Afghanistan, Burma, Central African Republic, Colombia, Congo, Liberia, Nepal, Palestine, Sri Lanka
Period: 21st-century
120 pages · Hardcover · powerHouse Books
Content warnings: child-abuse, graphic-violence, war