Little Soldier - Hardcover

Ashley, Bernard

3.21

70 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0439224241 ISBN 13: 9780439224246

Publisher: Scholastic Pr, 2002

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A powerful and important novel that ponders the depths of hate from London's street gangs to Africa's tribal wars through the eyes of a young boy.

Kaninda is left for dead when his family is gunned down by the warring tribe's army in their village of Lasai, Africa. He is "saved" by the Red Cross and brought to the UK to be adopted by a family there, but it is not by his choice. He would have rather stayed in Lasai to fight his war and to defend the honor of his people and the memory of his family.

So Kaninda stays silent, as a good soldier is trained to do, and plans his escape. In the meantime, however, a gang war and the arrival of a boy from the rebel tribe will force Kaninda to reconsider his ideas about revenge, loyalty, and the consuming power of hate.

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About the Author:

Bernard Ashley is one of the top writers for teenagers today. Drawing on his experience as a headteacher in a South London school he writes exciting, hard-hitting stories for the young adult reader plus picture book and younger fiction texts. \n \nBernard's first novel, The Trouble with Donovan Croft won the 'Other Award', an alternative to the Carnegie Award and since then Bernard has written extensively both for television and the children's book market. His adaptation of his own novel Dodgem won the Royal Television Society Award for the Best Children's Entertainment Programme. \n \nBernard has written a number of successful novels for Orchard Books. Tiger Without Teeth was chosen as the Guardian's Children's Book of the Week, Little Soldier about the gang-run estates of inner London was shortlisted for both the Carnegie and Guardian Fiction Award and Revenge House a hard-hitting crime thriller are all typical of Bernard's highly charged, gritty approach. \n \nBernard Ashley lives in South East London only a street or so from where he was born. During his time as a teacher and headteacher he worked in Kent, Hertfordshire, Newham and Greenwich. \n \nVisit Bernard Ashley at: www.bashley.com

From School Library Journal:

Grade 7-10-Kaninda Bulumba's country and tribe are fictitious but his circumstances, quest, and spirit are achingly real. The sole survivor of a Yusulu massacre that left his parents and baby sister dead, Kaninda joins the Kibu rebels in his native Lasai and learns their code of stealth, fearlessness, and loyalty. Hiding in a ditch after his band is attacked, the boy is discovered by U.N. forces, turned over to the Red Cross, and, subsequently, to Captain Betty Rose, a zealous but kind God's Force missionary. He is flown to London where he lives with Rose, her husband, and their daughter, Laura, a girl about his age. His new home is an apartment complex along the Thames where gangs vie for turf and Laura's role in Junior God's Force does not shield her from peer pressure and adolescent impulses. When she and her friend Theo joyride in his brother's car, they are involved in a hit-and-run accident that seriously injures a neighborhood girl and ultimately sparks a gang war. Despite his focus on returning to his homeland and avenging his family, Kaninda is caught up in Laura's struggle. His story is both tragic and hopeful. As he flashes back to events in Africa, his emotional and psychological pain are revealed. He and Laura become soul mates, learning from one another that people must accept moral responsibility for their actions and that true loyalty is based on understanding and not blind allegiance. With a sharp eye and ear for nuances of dialect and culture, Ashley has created a rich, multiracial cast of characters. The descriptions of the young people's inner turmoil reveal the contradictions, torment, and vulnerability they feel.
Gerry Larson, Durham School of the Arts, NC
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

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