By Colorado Kids Advisory Board member Monterey Buchanan

Title: Out of War
Author: Sara Cameron
Publisher: UNICEF
Number of Pages: 186

The book Out of War by Sara Cameron tells the stories of nine Colombian children with amazing courage. These children all come from different backgrounds, most have had to live with poverty, death, and all have had to live with violence as a result of the war that has been " raging in Columbia for over forty years". Although they are all very different they all have one common goal: peace in their community.

Take Juan Elias, for example: he lost his father during troubling wartime and has had to cope. He later found the Children's Movement for Peace and joined many other children fighting for peace in their communities. Many entered other clubs to help the smaller children around them effected by the war.

However, I think this book may be a bit too violent at times and is not for young children. Kids who wish to read this book who are around ten should probably sit down with a parent or grown up and talk about what they might read. The book talks about "armed groups" which are groups of government officials (like police) that often use violence to enforce laws in Columbia. Guns, gangs, and murder are some of the subjects that a person will run across when reading this book. You may want to read some background information before reading this book.

All in all Out of War is a book that can be violent at times but, more importantly, it is an important reminder of what peace can do not just in Columbia but all over our world. (February, 2002)