War Brothers

War Brothers (2008) is a novel by Canadian young adult novelist Sharon McKay. While a fictional story, the plot and characters are based on interviews McKay conducted with former Ugandan child soldiers. War Brothers centers around Kitino Jacob, a 14-year-old boy kidnapped along with his friends and forced into enslavement as a child soldier in the Lord’s Resistance Army, led by warlord Joseph Kony. The novel uses multiple perspectives to explore its themes of The Experience of Child Soldiers, The Impact of Trauma, and The Bonds of Friendship. In 2014, War Brothers was adapted into a graphic novel and released to American readers. The novel also won the 2009 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Juvenile Book.

This guide uses the 2008 Kindle version of this novel.

Content Warning: The source text discusses graphic violence, themes of abduction and child soldiers, psychological trauma, depictions of war atrocities, and sexual assault and rape.

Plot Summary

War Brothers opens in the city of Gulu, Uganda, in the year 2002. Jacob is a 14-year-old schoolboy planning to leave for his year at the George Jones Seminary for Boys boarding school with his best friend, Tony.