Review of War Kids by HJ Lawson

First off, the beginning of the story was really horrific. It made you almost not want to read the book. Everything Jada went through was horrible. However, there was something about it that made me want to continue reading it.

Jada was a 14yr old teenager that was pulled into a war where soldiers were killing everyone, bombing hospitals, schools, etc. Somehow, with the training her father gave her, Jada was able to make it through. Like other books recently, it goes back and forth from past to present. Overall, it really doesn't tell you where Jada is trying to go and what she is trying to get to. It's an assumption she is trying to find her father after she finds the rest of her family dead. She is able to kill someone in self defense before anything horrible can take place. She does eventually come across a group of kids led by Zak, who take her in. She decides to stick with them for a bit as they travel through Syria. She gets close to Zak, experiencing her first kiss and teaching him how to fire a gun. He is very heroic while trying to lead the group. I found Jada to be very brave and heroic, even through her fear and sorrow. However, the book overall left you disappointed. There were slow points throughout the book and everything just came together too quickly in the end for all of the bad that happened.