DETAILS
A Farewell To The War Within: A Battle with Reality
by Rutendo Alyssa-Joy Mushonga
76 pages
$10 for the paperback ($6 for the Kobo e-book)
TellWell Talent
Being a teen is not easy and neither is writing a book. Rutendo Alyssa-Joy Mushonga is only 15 years old and admittedly doesn’t have professional literary training, but she has become a fresh and compelling voice on the written page with her first book: a deep dive into the swirling ocean of turbulent emotions and the social maelstrom of developing one’s identity while jockeying for acceptance with one’s peers.
The book A Farewell To The War Within: A Battle with Reality was published in April. In case you’re wondering about the content, the title offers a heady hint that Mushonga’s life has been tough. Despite the deeply personal revelations of sexual assault, drug abuse, and attempted suicide, the author said it was important for her to write it in the hopes of building trust and understanding with her peers, classmates, and the world beyond.
She has much to say.
“Some people are not aware of (how) what they say or do impacts somebody,” she began. “I just want the parents to know how kids feel and the kids to know that they're not alone. There are other people who actually have the same feelings as they do.”
The Zimbabwean-born Mushonga moved to St. Albert less than a year ago, with several big moves in between. She was in Grade 2 in her home country and living with her grandparents when the troubles started, setting her life on a path of chaos and conflict that she is only now managing to sort out, mostly thanks to this book.
Being bullied led to her steal money from her grandparents so she could bribe the bullies and abate their pestiness. Eventually, she got caught and got in trouble with them, but then she moved to South Africa to live with her parents. It was a new life, but new bullies were waiting for her. She eventually moved to Fort McMurray and then to St. Albert. She has had to deal with her demons at every turn.
Each new step forward seems to have come with personal setbacks. Her survival has given her a sense of wisdom beyond her years, something she wishes to offer to others going through their own ordeals.
“I wasn't really sure why it was happening to me and I still am not sure why it happened to me. I want other people to know that it is OK that it's happening. It's not because of them, specifically. It’s just the circumstances and not you as a person. There's nothing wrong with you as a person. It's just the circumstances.”
Entering teenage-hood, she explains on the back-cover blurb, is like getting on a roller coaster full of unexpected twists, turns, ups and downs. “For me, it was more than just a roller coaster ride, it was like getting into a Shinkansen (bullet train) and straight into a train wreck. Barely had I started my teenage years when this train wreck happened.”
A Farewell to the War Within reads as a full personal account of her struggles and successes. It’s a diary of sorts, something she describes as her “crazy ride.”
It's also a lot like a tell-all with many personal opinions about the people around her. When asked how she felt revealing so much to the world, she said she hesitated, but she expects the benefits to outweigh the costs to her. Everyone at Richard S. Fowler School knows she wrote it, she said.
"I'm a bit scared, but I know it's for a good cause. I feel like I might have positive feedback for me."
Her parents have a similar reluctance but want to be supportive. After all, their daughter is a survivor, and deserves praise for that as much as for this book. Both are major accomplishments for such a young voice.
"We're not really sure if that was the best decision but we wanted to support her. She was going through a hard time and we feel that if she felt that writing it down and putting it out there would help her heal then we thought we'd just support her on that," said her mother, Cleopatra.
"We're proud of her for being able to tell a story, but at the same time, it's an emotional (one). It really hurts us that she had to go through all of these things. Having the book there is a constant reminder for everyone ... for us. Ultimately, it's her decision. We are proud of her. She's brave and she really writes with her soul."
