Title: War Brothers
Author: Sharon E. McKay
Publisher:Penguin Group
Year of Publication:2008
Number of Pages: 204pages
Genre: Fiction, Tragedy, Action, Adventure
    Jacob and his group of abducted children fight their way through starvation, torture, exhaustion, and murder, for the day they finally escape from the clutches of Kony's army of kidnapped children, the LRA.
    This book shows us the importance of hope, courage, and faith. It also shows the horrible activities taking place Uganda. This book takes place in the northern Uganda. This story is told by the narrator, in the third person point of view. The main character/protagonist is Jacob, and the important characters are his friends captured with him, Tony, Paul, Norman, Oteka, and Hannah.
    This story begins in front of Jacob's house, with Jacob, and Tony playing football, and enjoying the days left of their break. Soon they will be back at George Jones Seminary for boys. They can't wait to be back with their friends, and tell each other stories of their adventures. But as soon as they arrive, they are visited by an unexpected surprise. They are visited by the LRA, their worst nightmare. Immediately they are taken to the middle of nowhere. They are given just two choices, become a soldier and kill, or die. If they want to survive, they have to be very careful about every single action they make. At first, Jacob and his friends have hope, and are sure they will be rescued, but as time goes on, and they lose energy, they start losing hope of rescue. They realize that if they want to escape and survive, they have to rely on themselves and each other. Now they make a group of people who want to escape, Jacob and his friends, Oteka, an orphan left alone in the world, and Hannah, a girl who has significant information that could be crucial to their escape. Now they have to use all the courage, strength, and knowledge they have to escape from the crutch of the LRA, and finally be free.
    The author was very successful in delivering his idea about the importance of hope, courage, and faith. He expressed his idea with a very powerful impact, and he really made me think about his idea. I think the strength of this novel was the impact and the intensity used in the story, but I think the weakness was the the meaning for the Ugandan words were in the far back, so I had to keep going back and forth. This is one of the most intense, and exciting book I have read. I would definitely recommend this book to young teens because for younger readers it might be a bit too harsh, but for teenagers, they would find it very exciting, and I can guarantee that they won't find it boring. After I finished reading, it really made me think about the theme the author tried to deliver, and had a big impact.

I think the big idea of the book, War Brothers, is that you should never lose hope, and keep moving forward. Jacob, and his friends just ignored the pain and fear, never lost hope, and kept moving on until he was able to escape. Before beginning this novel, I really didn't think about this idea much. Whenever I felt hopeless, I always just gave up, and never really bother trying to carry on. After reading this story, I realized that if you always have hope. and keep pushing on, you can always reach your goal. I believe in the novel, it is a better world, because no matter what, the characters stuck together, helped each other, and never lost faith with each other. Also, they had much bravery. They did things that most people wouldn't even think of doing. I think I could make the world a better place by having more hope, looking out for my friends, and always moving forward.

I think Jacob, the main character of the book, War Brothers, would vote for Steven Harper of the Conservative party. I think it is more likely he will vote for Steven Harper because first of all, Steven Harper is planning to improve the children and elderly protection, and make the streets safer. With more protection, it is less likely that innocent children are going to be abducted by Kony's army of LRA, and the everyone would be able to live without fear of being attacked by the army of children. Secondly, Steven Harper claims that he will strengthen Canada's Armed Forces. With a strong army, when the LRA's attack, they will be able to defend the country, and the citizens better, They might even be able to put a complete stop to Kony and his army.






i

This book reminds of the horrors that occur in the book, War Brothers. In this book, innocent children are taken from their houses, schools, or from the streets, and taken to the middle of no where. They are either forced to kill people. or they are killed. In this photo, a child is given a gun, and ordered to kill, or he will be killed. "...You are rebels now. You fight for freedom..."(page 80)

1.(For Oteka)-Do you really believe in witchcraft, that your mother really did tell you to help people escape from the LRA, or do you believe it is false?
2.(For Tony)-What did you feel when you were killing Adam? Were you scared, and disgusted, or did you feel nothing? Why did you avoiding your friends?
3.(To Jacob's father)-How did you feel when you heard the news of Jacob's abduction?

This is a picture of the LRA(Lord's Resistance Army). The LRA is and army of abducted children under command of Joseph Kony, an evil man who started this all, and are given guns, and used as soldiers in the future purpose of taking over the government, and taking the control over the country to make their own civilization. The Book, War Brother, is about a group of children taken from their school by the LRA to somewhere far away, where there are no government soldiers, to work as soldiers, or slaves, and has to survive the harsh treatments of commanders of the army. They are forced to become one of the murderous children, and if they refuse, they are harshly beaten, or even killed. They have to do everything they can to survive, if they ever want to escape from this nightmare.

Answer the following questions:
1.   What is the title of the novel you are reading?
War Brothers
2.  Who is the author?
Sharon E. Mckay
3.  What clues does the cover give to the story?
An African Tale of loyalty and courage
4.  Make a prediction about the ending.
Everyone manages to escape from the army.

Reading Schedule:
April 8th: to page 45
April 15th: to page 90
April 29th: to page 135
May 6th: to page 180
May 13th: complete the novel