Song For Night

Author: Chris Abani

Publisher: Akashic Books (2007)

Part Inferno, part Paradise Lost, and part Sunjiata epic, Song for Night is the story of a West African boy soldier's lyrical, terrifying, yet beautiful journey through the nightmare landscape of a brutal war in search of his lost platoon. The reader is led by the voiceless protagonist who, as part of a land mine-clearing platoon, had his vocal chords cut, a move to keep these children from screaming when blown up, and thereby distracting the other minesweepers. The book is written in a ghostly voice, with each chapter headed by a line of the unique sign language these children invented. This book is unlike anything else ever written about an African war.

This harrowing novella by Nigerian poet and award-winning novelist Abani tells the story of a West African boy soldiers lyrical, terrifying, yet beautiful journey through the nightmare landscape of a brutal war in search of his lost platoon.