Soldier Boy, Keely Hutton
Soldier Boy, Keely Hutton
List: $19.99 | Sale: $13.99
Club: $9.99

Soldier Boy
A Novel Based on a True Story from the Ugandan Civil War

Author: Keely Hutton

Narrator: Kevin R. Free

Unabridged: 8 hr 12 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 06/13/2017


Synopsis

"Powerful writing based on the real life of Ricky Anywar is heightened by narrator Kevin R. Free's dramatic reading. Free's use of an African accent carries readers to the Ugandan setting and the stories of two characters — one real, one fictional." — AudioFile Magazine

Soldier Boy begins with the story of Ricky Richard Anywar, abducted at age fourteen in 1989 to fight with Joseph Kony's rebel army in Uganda’s decades-long civil war. Ricky is trained, armed, and forced to fight government soldiers alongside his brutal kidnappers, but never stops dreaming of escape.

The story continues twenty years later, with a fictionalized character named Samuel, representative of the thousands of child soldiers Ricky eventually helped rehabilitate as founder of the internationally acclaimed charity Friends of Orphans.

Working closely with Ricky himself, debut author Keely Hutton has written an eye-opening audiobook about a boy’s unbreakable spirit and indomitable courage in the face of unimaginable horror.

This title has Common Core connections.

About Keely Hutton

Keely Hutton is a children’s book author and former English teacher. She worked closely with Ricky Richard Anywar to tell his story in her debut novel, Soldier Boy, which Booklist named one of the top ten first novels of the year and one of the top ten historical novels for youth the following year. Her second novel, Secret Soldiers, was a Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year and a Children’s Book Council Notable Social Studies Book for Young People. She is also the co-author of Achut Deng’s coming-of-age memoir Don’t Look Back, which recounts Deng’s journey from South Sudan to America. Keely lives in Rochester, New York, with her husband, two sons, and adorable dog, Maximus.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Katy O. on June 09, 2017

Add this to high school required reading lists IMMEDIATELY. Eye opening and heartbreaking, Soldier Boy is not a book we want to exist, given that it's a semi-factual account of horrifying events (Ricky's account is true, while the other narrator Samuel is a compilation of the thousands of boy soldie......more

Goodreads review by Erika on August 10, 2017

Everyone needs to read this.......more

Goodreads review by Kaitlyn on June 08, 2017

*received an ARC of this in exchange for my honest review Soldier Boy by Keely Hutton, is two stories in one. The first one, is based on a true story by Ricky Richard Anywar, who was a child soldier in the Ugandan civil war. Abducted by Joseph Kony's army when he was only fourteen years old, Ricky w......more

Goodreads review by Michayla on June 09, 2019

I wish I could give this book ten stars. It was one of the hardest reads but also impossible to put down. A true story of unimaginable heartbreak and suffering but also of hope and healing and forgiveness. Everyone needs to read this book as it gives our western viewpoint just a glimpse into what is......more

Goodreads review by Sarah {The Clever Reader} on August 01, 2017

This book is nothing like I've ever read before, especially in the world of YA. It is a powerful and heartbreaking book that tells a story of a boy who learns to forgive when forgiveness doesn't seem possible. I think that books like Soldier Boy are important for young readers, and adults alike, to......more


Quotes

"Powerful writing based on the real life of Ricky Anywar is heightened by narrator Kevin R. Free's dramatic reading." -AudioFile


Awards

  • Booklist Editors' Choice
  • Texas TAYSHAS High School Reading List