Little Soldier

by Bernard Ashley

A powerful and important novel that ponders the depths of hate from London's street gangs to Africa's tribal wars through the eyes of a young boy.

Kaninda is left for dead when his family is gunned down by the warring tribe's army in their village of Lasai, Africa. He is "saved" by the Red Cross and brought to the UK to be adopted by a family there, but it is not by his choice. He would have rather stayed in Lasai to fight his war and to defend the honor of his people and the memory of his family.

So Kaninda stays silent, as a good soldier is trained to do, and plans his escape. In the meantime, however, a gang war and the arrival of a boy from the rebel tribe will force Kaninda to reconsider his ideas about revenge, loyalty, and the consuming power of hate.

Genres: Fiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Bernard Ashley lives in Charlton, south east London, only a street or so from where he was born. He was educated at the Roan School, Blackheath and Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School, Rochester. After National Service in the RAF Bernard trained to teach at Trent Park College of Education, specializing in Drama. He followed this with an Advanced Diploma at the Cambridge Institute and has been awarded honorary Doctorates in Education by the University of Greenwich and in letters by the University of Leicester. During his career as a teacher he worked in Kent, Hertfordshire, Newham and Greenwich, with thirty years of headships in the last three.

He is now writing full time. His first novel, The Trouble with Donovan Croft (recently re-issued by OUP), was published in 1974 and won the 'Other' Award, an alternative to the Carnegie Medal (for which he has been shortlisted three times). Nineteen further novels have followed, gaining him a reputation as a 'gritty' writer in sympathy with the under dog. In Margaret Meek's view he gets inside children's heads, who say that this is what it's like for them.

Of Tiger Without Teeth Philip Pullman wrote in The Guardian:
'A commonplace setting, an everyday situation, ordinary characters. Bernard Ashley's great gift is to turn what seems to be low-key realism into something much stronger and more resonant. It has something to do with empathy, compassion, an undimmed thirst for decency and justice. In a way, Ashley is doing what ‘Play for Today’ used to do when TV was a medium that connected honestly with its own time, and what so few artists do now: using realism in the service of moral concern.'

Johnnie's Blitz (Barn Owl), drew on his wartime experiences as a child in and around London; while Little Soldier (Orchard) sums up his writing: a pacy plot with an emotional turning point, a theme that concerns him, and characters that grip as real people. It was shortlisted for the 'Guardian' young fiction prize and for the Carnegie Medal. His latest novel is Flashpoint - a thriller, the third of the Ben Maddox stories.

Bernard’s picture books include Double the Love (Carol Thompson illustrating) from Orchard, Growing Good (Bloomsbury), Cleversticks, and A Present for Paul (Harper Collins). Tamarind published The Bush, illustrated by Lynne Willey. His popular stories for young readers include Dinner Ladies Don't Count (Puffin), Justin and the Demon Drop Kick, and I'm Trying to Tell You (both Happy Cat).

Television work has included Running Scared (from which he wrote the novel), The Country Boy (BBC) and his adaptation of his own Dodgem which won the Royal Television Society award as the best children's entertainment of its year.

Stage plays are The Old Woman Who Lived in A Cola Can (Edinburgh Festival and tour), The Secret of Theodore Brown (Unicorn Theatre for Children in the West End), and Little Soldier (published by Heinemann).

A strong family man, Bernard is married to Iris Ashley, a former London headteacher, and they have three sons. Their eldest, Chris, also a headteacher, co-wrote with Bernard the TV series Three Seven Eleven (Granada), and his latest "Wasim" books were published in 2007 by Frances Lincoln. David is a London headteacher and an expert on children's reading; and Jonathan is an actor, writer and director whose writing for theatre includes Stiffs; and who was writer and voice director in Los Angeles and London on Primal and Ghosthunter for Playstation 2.

Bernard and Iris have four grandchildren, Paul, Carl, Rosie and Luke.

Reviews

[D C · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to read it for school. It had no plot and at several points I considered just dropping it and failing the class because it was so mind-numbingly boring. I would rather eat my own shit than read it again.

[Deeznutz · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is horrible and I don't it recommend anybody who actually knows what good books are. This book used to belong in my tote tray but now it belongs in my fireplace. This book is an insult to pen and paper. I fell asleep about 6 times throughout this disgusting book. I would rather be playing pug than reading this insult to my eyes. There is no storyline and there are sex scenes so this should not be for kids. Overall My eyes and my head are disgusted after reading this book. And its the worst book I have EVER read.

[Jack Gillies]

ennuyeux

[Felix Brunner · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my first book for the African continent as part of my read around the world challenge. Little Soldier is a book told from the perspective of Kaninda who brought to England after his village was shot down. Kaninda is the only one of his family to survive, having seen his mother, father and sister killed. He is then orphaned by Gods Force (like the red cross) and it's about his experience of getting to grips with new surroundings.

Before arriving to England, Kaninda was situated in a small country known as Lesai. Lesai was war-ridden and many of the children of the country were abducted to be a part rebel groups. Kaninda was one of these children and grew up fighting on the streets. When brought to England, Kaninda gets caught up in street warfare but less serious fighting than in Africa. This causes him to get emotional and it brings up memories of his hometown.

Some major points in this book include:
- Kaninda meets the Yusulu Refugee. Whilst at his new school, Kaninda encounters a boy from the other rebel group in his country. All the hatred that Kaninda had built up from witnessing his family die was taken out on the boy.
-Kaninda gets involved in the street warfare of London. After being taken in, Kaninda finds himself in the middle of a war between the children on the streets of London. This war allows him to fully express himself.
-Laura and Kaninda meet. Laura was the daughter of the foster parents that took Kaninda in. Not knowing what to do or say Kaninda reacted by ignoring Laura. As their relationship grew, both put aside each others faults and became friends.

Overall, I gave this book a three stars due to the awareness of children soldiers in third-world countries and how it's extremely tough to witness such horrible things at such a young age. With this book many people have to read it with a sense of maturity and understanding to see why the characters made those decisions due to past experiences.

[Sarah Street · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty good; about what I expected. Well, not true --- I think I had hoped for more depth in the characters of this story, especially since Bernard Ashley indicates he is confident his characters are riveting. I guess I just didn't really *feel* anything through the characters until the end of the book. Actually, the pacing of this book, oddly enough, reminds me a lot of The Great Gatsby---kinda slow and seemingly random, but then it all comes together and hits you in the face in rapid-fire at the end and all of a sudden you realize you actually *did* care for the characters! Most interesting is Ashley's "About Little Soldier" at the end of the book, where he says: "Every story I write needs three basic ingredients: a good, pacy plot; characters that actors would give their eyeteeth to play; and a theme--what the book is about." I'd say Ashley delivers well on 2 of the 3. I do respect and admire the intention behind Kaninda, the boy solider and center of the story. I understand and am compelled by Ashley's reasons for drawing attention to the fact that there exists some form of "tribal" warfare wherever we go. Also, I acknowledge that it is possible that my reaction to the lack of depth of Kaninda is perhaps necessary to see his transformation and see, with Ashley, the "chilling" faces of boy soliders with "the determined purpose in their eyes.... Belts of bullets weighted heavy round their necks, and large weapons were cradled in their arms. These boys were going to kill." Anyway ... worth the read, but not my favorite!

[Anthony Cheung · Rating 2 out of 5]

The book's content is actually quite good, with detailed explanation of the war, encouraging the reader to read on. The perspective from a black fighting like a slave is actually quite intriguing as I've never seen or heard of it before.

[Jainam Shah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very emotional book and teaches us about young, underage soldier. It also shows you about their lives after the war and how they have to live with other people.

[Hellas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great story showing how the wider impact of wars between two tribes/groups. May be sometimes hard to pick up on details. Interesting flashbacks in the story as well.