"Not since Jerzy Kosinski's <em>The Painted Bird</em> or Agota Kristof's Notebook Trilogy has there been such a harrowing novel about what it's like to be a young person in a war. That Chris Abani is able to find humanity, mercy, and even, yes, forgiveness, amid such devastation is something of a miracle."-Rebecca Brown, author of <em>The End of Youth</em></p>

"The moment you enter these pages, you step into a beautiful and terrifying dream. You are in the hands of a master, a literary shaman. Abani casts his spell so completely-so devastatingly-you emerge cleansed, redeemed, and utterly haunted."-Brad Kessler, author of <em>Birds in Fall</em></p>

Part <em>Inferno</em>, part <em>Paradise Lost</em>, and part Sunjiata epic, <em>Song for Night</em> is the story of a West African boy soldier's lyrical, terrifying, yet beautiful journey through the nightmare landscape of a brutal war in search of his lost platoon. The reader is led by the voiceless protagonist who, as part of a land mine-clearing platoon, had his vocal chords cut, a move to keep these children from screaming when blown up, and thereby distracting the other minesweepers. The book is written in a ghostly voice, with each chapter headed by a line of the unique sign language these children invented. This book is unlike anything else ever written about an African war.</p>

Chris Abani is a Nigerian poet and novelist and the author of <em>The Virgin of Flames</em>, <em>Becoming Abigail</em> (a <em>New York Times</em> Editor's Choice), and <em>GraceLand</em> (a selection of the <em>Today Show</em> Book Club and winner of the 2005 PEN/Hemingway Prize and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award). His other prizes include a PEN Freedom to Write Award, a Prince Claus Award, and a Lannan Literary Fellowship. He lives and teaches in California.</p>