'Dad had a lot of combat stress when he came home,' says Kaela, 13. 'He tried to hide it from us kids, but I could see that he was a lot quicker to get angry.''Daddy is an important soldier,' says Cole, 6. 'I'm going to be a soldier when I grow up because they have guns and I like shooting bad guys. The hard part would be dying.''Find someone you can trust if you need to talk,' says Allison, 11. 'Find some way to relieve your stress. You have your own life to live.'The collected voices of these children - sad, scared, funny, angry, and loving- makes Off to War a powerful and eloquent statement about the families of the men and women who fight for their countries, and the burden they bear. Includes stories from North America and Australia, plus a glossary and a list of organisations and publications that help soldiers, veterans, and their families.
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Deborah Ellis was raised in a small town called Paris in southern Ontario. She finished high school there, then lived for a while in Ottawa and Toronto. A long-time feminist and anti-war activist, her hobbies include riding her bike, poking around in the woods, and exploring new places and ideas.