Agu, a young boy in an unnamed West African nation, is recruited into a unit of guerrilla fighters as civil war engulfs his country. In a powerful, strikingly original debut that vividly captures Agu's youth and confusion, Iweala has produced a harrowing, deeply affecting novel.

Agu, a young boy in an unnamed West African nation, is recruited into a unit of guerrilla fighters as civil war engulfs his country. In a powerful, strikingly original debut that vividly captures Agu's youth and confusion, Iweala has produced a harrowing, deeply affecting novel.