Burma Boy by Biyi Bandele – first published in 2007
14 year old Nigerian Ali Banana lies about his age in order to join the British Army in 1944 to fight the Japanese as a Chindit in the Burmese jungle. One by one his comrades are killed in skirmishes with the Japanese. A quick and compelling read but the author doesn’t spare us the gory details. It could have done with a glossary of terms used by the Nigerian soldiers e.g. Kingi Joji = King George VI. 7/10
20th February 2011
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