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Overview
She promised her mama she'd keep them safe.It's been six months since Mama died, and Chanda is struggling to raise her little brother and sister. Determined to end a family feud, she takes them to her relatives' remote rural village.
But across the nearby border, a brutal civil war is spreading. Rebels led by the ruthless General Mandiki attack at night, stealing children. All that separates Chanda from the horror is a stretch of rugged bush and a national park alive with predators. Soon, not even that. Before she knows it, Chanda must face the unthinkable, with a troubled young tracker as her unlikely ally.
Chanda's Wars is the unforgettable story of a teenager who risks everything to save her brother and sister. Epic in its sweep, intimate in its humanity, here is a gripping tale of family intrigue, love and courage, forgiveness and hope.
Synopsis
She promised her mama she'd keep them safe.
It's been six months since Mama died, and Chanda is struggling to raise her little brother and sister. Determined to end a family feud, she takes them to her relatives' remote rural village.
But across the nearby border, a brutal civil war is spreading. Rebels led by the ruthless General Mandiki attack at night, stealing children. All that separates Chanda from the horror is a stretch of rugged bush and a national park alive with predators. Soon, not even that. Before she knows it, Chanda must face the unthinkable, with a troubled young tracker as her unlikely ally.
Chanda's Wars is the unforgettable story of a teenager who risks everything to save her brother and sister. Epic in its sweep, intimate in its humanity, here is a gripping tale of family intrigue, love and courage, forgiveness and hope.
Children's Literature
Chanda has had a hard life. After her mother died from AIDS she was left to take care of her two younger siblings, Iris and Soly. When life becomes very difficult for Chanda, she decides to take a trip to the village where her mother grew up to heal old wounds and get help from her other relatives. Unfortunately both plans backfire, and instead of having a much needed break, Chanda is cast out of the family (because she refuses to marry the boy next door to heal old family wounds), and her younger siblings are kidnapped and forced to join Mandiki's rebel army. Chanda then shows even more courage as she enters the Bush to rescue the children. She makes the best of the impossible situation she is thrown into. This book is a fictional story with a fictional war, but it is based on real life events in various parts of Africa. The atrocities of this child-war are described in this book but are not terribly graphic. However, the content of this book is not appropriate for younger children. The author does an excellent job of describing what happens with only vague details. The book deals with pain, faith, shame, guilt, courage, and hope. Readers will find this powerful book intriguing and moving. Reviewer: Nicole Peterson
Editorials
KLIATT
AGERANGE: Ages 12 to 18.If readers were not impressed by Chanda Kabelo’s resilience and courage in the Michael L. Printz Honor Book Chanda’s Secrets, they certainly will be while reading this sequel. After her mother surrenders to AIDS, Chanda takes on the responsibility of caring for her brother Soly and sister Iris. She has hopes of opening a Friendship Center in memory of her mother, but her relatives in Tiro--a fictitious country in Africa--have other ideas. They want Chanda to marry their neighbor’s son and use her land in Bonang as a dowry that will help improve their own living conditions. Only recently reunited with her maternal grandparents and older sister, Chanda has no trouble objecting to such an arrangement. Before the matter is settled, war in a neighboring country comes to Tiro and directly infringes upon Chanda and her family’s safety. Stratton briefly summarizes the main conflict in the first book to illuminate some of the issues in this volume, which can stand alone. Chanda is a complex character readers can admire. The pace of the novel is a bit slow, however, and readers will probably have to cling to their interest in Chanda to make it to the more compelling aspects of the book. For example, the author’s depiction of the plight of child soldiers is so vivid and gruesome, readers will cheer for Chanda as she heroically frees her brother and sister when they are forced to join General Mandiki’s militia. An afterword written by the head of United Nations forces during the Rwandan genocide helps explain the very real and frightening experiences Stratton so movingly fictionalizes. Reviewer: KaaVonia Hinton, Ph.D.
March 2008 (Vol. 42, No.2)
VOYA
Orphaned by the AIDS epidemic raging across Africa, Chanda Kabele becomes parent and provider for her younger siblings. Isolated from her mother's relatives by a long-running family feud, Chanda manages to make a home for her brother and sister with the help of friends and neighbors. Life is stable until her mother's family issues an emotional plea for Chanda to visit and heal old wounds. Upon arrival, Chanda realizes that the family's real motivation for the invitation is an arranged marriage between Chanda and the neighbor's son, Nelson. Too independent to acquiesce, Chanda reignites the family rift by refusing. Against this backdrop, Chanda's world explodes into violence when a ruthless rebel faction launches a cross-border raid, murdering some of her relatives and neighbors and kidnapping the children. While their numb, distraught families try to pick up the pieces, Chanda and Nelson pursue the retreating army cross-country to get their siblings back. Although a continuation of the story begun in Chanda's Secrets (Annick Press, 2004/VOYA December 2004), this novel easily stands alone. Stratton crafts a beautifully written tale of family, loyalty, loss, and love. Ripped-from-the-headlines action keeps the pages turning, but complex, fully realized characters make readers want to linger. Chanda herself is a marvel. Gifted with uncommon courage and strength, her tenderness and vulnerability make her real and utterly compelling. This novel is a masterpiece, revealing that beauty can exist in the most unlikely situations and that beauty will win, in the end. Descriptions of war are graphic but central to the story. Reviewer: Amy FiskeChildren's Literature -
Chanda has had a hard life. After her mother died from AIDS she was left to take care of her two younger siblings, Iris and Soly. When life becomes very difficult for Chanda, she decides to take a trip to the village where her mother grew up to heal old wounds and get help from her other relatives. Unfortunately both plans backfire, and instead of having a much needed break, Chanda is cast out of the family (because she refuses to marry the boy next door to heal old family wounds), and her younger siblings are kidnapped and forced to join Mandiki's rebel army. Chanda then shows even more courage as she enters the Bush to rescue the children. She makes the best of the impossible situation she is thrown into. This book is a fictional story with a fictional war, but it is based on real life events in various parts of Africa. The atrocities of this child-war are described in this book but are not terribly graphic. However, the content of this book is not appropriate for younger children. The author does an excellent job of describing what happens with only vague details. The book deals with pain, faith, shame, guilt, courage, and hope. Readers will find this powerful book intriguing and moving. Reviewer: Nicole PetersonSchool Library Journal
Gr 8 Up- Chanda has reached some level of stability in her life since readers first met her in Chand's Secrets (Annick, 2004). She takes care of her younger brother and sister and works as a teaching assistant to support her family. However, Chanda is pursued by nightmares. Friends and neighbors soon persuade her to take her siblings to the countryside to end the feud with their mother's family. The ravages of AIDS and poverty on a fictional, but realistic sub-Saharan African country are once again depicted with unflinching honesty, but it is the issue of child soldiers, a tragedy that affects more than 300,000 children around the world, that takes center stage. Stratton deftly handles the devastating effects war can have on young people. Horrific things happen to the characters, though Chand's first-person narrative never gets unnecessarily graphic in the detail. The author strives for authenticity in the psyche of child soldiers and, through substantial research, captures a voice that is seldom heard. This story is both suspenseful and engaging. Chanda is steadfast in the face of adversity, and the book is as hopeful and spirited as its protagonist.-Ernie Bond, Salisbury University, MD
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