In April 2014, the world awoke to theshocking news that the terrorist group Boko Haram had kidnapped nearly 300school-aged girls and taken them deep into the forests of Nigeria. When veteranjournalist Mellissa Fung travelled to Nigeria, she discovered that the scope ofthe kidnappings had been vastly under-reported. Hundreds—possiblythousands—more girls had been taken against their will and forced to becomechild brides to soldiers and leaders of Boko Haram. Some of the captivesescaped and returned to their villages, many with children in tow. Most ofthese girls, still children themselves, were shunned by their former friendsand family. Other girls have never been seen again.
A former captive herself, Mellissa Fung hasgreat empathy for the kidnapped girls. Taken by Taliban sympathizers in Afghanistan,Fung shared her experience in her number-one-bestselling book, Un
der an Afghan Sky: A Memoir ofCaptivity. During several visits to Nigeria over four years, shesat down with the girls and their families and conducted hundreds of hours ofinterviews, listening to horrific stories of capture, rape and torture, as wellas escapes and excommunications. Fung tells the stories of Gambo, Asma’u, Zaraand other girls taken by Boko Haram. She also portrays strong women fightingagainst the terrorist group in their own powerful ways: Aisha the Hunter, whomoves stealthily into the forest, taking out Boko Haram with her faithfulfollowers, and Mama Boko Haram, an Igbo woman who knows the fighters and thosehaunted by their experiences and fights to empty the forests of fighters andcaptives alike. This is raw, honest and heartbreaking storytelling at its best.
