Teenage Soldiers Adult Wars Book

A collection of fictional and non-fictional stories and essays dealing with war and its effects on the young.

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up-- While adults make the decision to wage war, it is often teenagers who carry out the orders. In this excellent collection of short stories and essays , teenage soldiers in troubled areas around the world express their front-line view of military conflict. From Northern Ireland to Tienanmen Square, from the Middle East to Lithuania, young writers and former soldiers tell their personal stories, giving readers insight into the realities behind today's newspaper headlines. ``The Cemetery,'' a short story set in Beirut, uses the friendship between two boys to express the political and cultural forces that shape the PLO; ``A Slight Deception'' by Israeli writer Yitzhak Ben-Ner examines the corrosive effects of seeing one's neighbor as a deadly enemy. These and other thoughtful young voices raise questions that concern teenagers everywhere, questions of the individual versus authority, our common humanity versus national interest. Among the many unforgettable stories are two by a conscripted Russian student who writes with searing honesty about the first person he must kill--a young Afghani boy--and about the death of his best friend in battle. His well-crafted accounts show the psychological effects of warfare on the warrior and challenge the Nintendo game stereotype of soldiers as less, and more, than fully human. In class, or as individual reading, this unprecedented book will stimulate thoughtful response to world crises and discussion of the decisions that young people must make about their own lives today.-- Carolyn Polese, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA