Day of the elephants by Ron Swager & Ed chinn

Day of the Elephants is an amazing story, portraying the life of a young man, Roland Deah, who lost his home, his family, his school, and even his country, in the violence that took over Liberia in 1990.

It is peculiarly easy for an American such as myself to ignore wars in Africa. It is far away, we don't know anyone personally involved, and the details seem murky and confusing.  Reading the story from the perspective of a young boy changes everything.  We get to understand the African proverb - "When the bull elephants fight, the grass always loses."   Here is a young boy, as innocent as the grass, who has to run for his life, and is a double target because of his red school uniform, which makes him look like a rebel soldier. How is it possible for an 8 year old child to be mistaken for a combatant?  In an environment where tiny children were forced to carry weapons, and use them on other human beings, an eight year old was assumed to be a soldier rather than a child.

The story has twists and turns that would make a soap opera sound mundane.  Without giving away the ending, it is still fair to say that the highs and lows are almost unbelievable.  From adults who risked themselves to take him under their wing, to the death of those trying to protect him, to the care of near strangers, we see the best and the worst in human beings.  And we see the incredible strength of this small boy who grows to be a man in spite of escaping again and again from chaos and danger.  And we also see the merciful love of God, a love that cannot be extinguished even amidst the worst depravity that man is capable of.  The love that causes impossible connections to create unbelievable outcomes (you need to read the book to see how).

It is worth stopping for a moment to see life through Roland's eyes. He is puzzled by the American problems with stress.   "This man who lived through human slaughter, watched brutal rapes, dwelled in the squalor and disease of refugee camps, and suffered other horrors (as a child!) cannot understand how people can be driven so deep into the emotional abyss by so little."  Having lived through so much to get to America, he prizes his adopted country.  And after reading the book, when I see the picture of him holding his U.S. Citizenship Certificate it brings me to tears.

The actual writing is not as impressive as the story, and the parallel between the writer's health situation and Roland's life is not as compelling to the reader as it is to the author.

[Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this- book free from the Publishers as part of their Review Program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. ]