War Brothers: The Graphic Novel

McKay, Sharon E. & Daniel Lafrance. War Brothers: The Graphic Novel. 2013. 165p. ISBN 978-1-55451-488-5. Available at GFX MCK on the library shelves.

Uganda has been in the midst of a low-level civil war for decades. The Lord’s Resistance Army, or LRA, has fought the central government more to promote its leader than to achieve any real ideological goals. Known for brutally recruiting and training child soldiers, the LRA operates out of several countries in central Africa, including Uganda and South Sudan.

Jacob is a happy fourteen-year-old student at a prestigious school near his hometown of Gulu, when he and his friends are abducted by the LRA and forced to become slaves. Tony, one of Jacob’s friend who was hoping to become a priest, is forced to violently kill one of his friends with a stick, and he therefore becomes a “soldier” in the LRA. He gains access to weapons and food, but in the process loses some of his humanity. Jacob and his friends Paul and Norman remain slave, unwilling or unable to join the killing. Moving through the bush, they never sleep in the same place, they never have enough food, and violence permeates their camp.

Throughout these trying times Jacob meets Hannah and Oteka. Hannah had her ears cut off and now she’s an outcast, good enough to serve food but little else. Oteka is older and was a medical student before being forcibly enrolled and becoming the camp’s cook. When Norman is selected to be killed, Jacob knows that he must act. With Hannah and Oteka’s help, Jacob decide they must escape this very night. With soldiers of the LRA hunting them down, and the jungles of Africa teaming with wildlife, can Jacob save everyone, including his friend Tony?

Based on true stories of a conflict that still continues to this day, Jacob’s graphic tale is reminiscent of Arn’s experience in Never Fall Down. Both are individuals finding themselves in dire circumstances but retain their humanity and never lose hope of surviving and escaping their current conditions.