The bestselling biography of Deng Adut - Sudanese child soldier, refugee, Australian lawyer, and man of hope.
Deng Adut fought as part of the Sudan People's Liberation Army from the age of six until his brother rescued him and a UN camp saw the two boys taken in by an Australian couple, from which point Adut proceeded to learn to read and eventually became a lawyer against the adversity of unthinkable trauma. Adut tells his story here, shortlisted for the ABIA Biography Book of the Year.
In our oft overheated conversation about migrants, Songs of a War Boy seriously challenges our notions of what it means to be Australian. It's much less about genetic heritage than the fact that we are welcoming and free and live by the rule of law. Here, there's an immense pride in a citizenship that most of us take for granted.