Girl Soldier

Girl Soldier is the story of Grace Akallo, a Ugandan who, when only fifteen years old, was kidnapped by the Lord’s Resistance Army and forced to become a soldier and the “wife” of an older fighter. She became one of more than 30,000 child soldiers to be forcibly drafted into service in a bloody, senseless and prolonged civil war that has torn Uganda to pieces.

The book is co-written with Faith McDonnell, an American activist and writer. As Akallo writes her autobiography, McDonnell weaves in the history of the Ugandan violence, various pieces of the back story, and ways that the reader can make a difference in the conflict. Unfortunately, I found that this format simply did not work very well. Akallo’s contributions are outweighed by McDonnell’s and the narrative quickly becomes bogged down with details. Even the tips for making a difference seem somehow forced (are breath prayers really the solution?). Even more importantly, the book seemed to contain little in the way of gospel. The gospel is never presented thoroughly and in all its power. Throughout we see a thread of ecumenism that is, at best, troubling and, at worst, could case a shadow over the bits of gospel we do find in the book.

I couldn’t help but feel that Akallo’s story could have been told better than this. I’d recommend skipping this one and turning instead to a book like A Long Way Gone. It deals with a similar story (albeit from a secular point of view) and does so more convincingly.