In which the brutality of being child soldiers is explicitly spelled out to dispel any doubt that these kids are not irrevocably traumatized when

I like this book because they really let you know that things are not going to be okay and these kids are not going to pull up out of the trauma that's going to shape the rest of their lives. This war has already ruined their morality and ethics and general social interdependency, and things are not going to get better.

This is kind of the book where you know things are not going to get better or get wrapped up neatly, no matter what happens.