The Sky High Road — Moses L. Howard

A footballer faces crushing odds - against the Lord's Liberation Army! How to keep hope kindled for a brighter future? Jason, a teenage soccer player in a Ugandan village, is worried about his O-levels and grieving his father's death from AIDS. His grandmother sends Jason and his sister Katura on a journey to her home village. That unwanted chore turns to catastrophe when they are enslaved as child-soldiers in the Lord's Liberation Army. Jason and Katura battle their insane captors, who inflict hideous harm on the children they kidnap. Escaping, Jason and Katura encounter both helpers and new dangers on the journey home. Can they bring home more than a solar lantern for their grandmother, carrying new light for their future in Uganda? The Sky High Road is a coming-of-age story for readers in grades 7â€"12, young adults, and all readers interested in the coming-of-age challenges for educated adolescents in 21st century African villages.