Drone Child: A Novel of War, Family, and Survival

Written by David H. Rothman

Narrated by Dion Graham

Drone Child is about family and love in a violent, chaotic society, and the terror you feel when khaki-clad thugs imperil your dearest ones. Kidnapped for his brilliance, a 15-year-old tech genius must fly deadly drones and fight as a sea-going pirate to keep his parents alive.

Can he escape and also free his twin sister in time from the clutches of a major sex-trafficker?

Earlier he worked as a self-taught Internet expert in the mega-city of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, while his songbird sister aspired to be a rumba star. But murderous gun-worshippers chloroformed him and whisked him away. Now he must fight for the wrong side.

Performed by the award-winning Dion Graham, the story is told as Lemba Adula's war memoir looking back 25 years earlier in the 2020s.

Junior Boweya and Jean Felix Mwema Ngandu critiqued and fact-checked the book.

Recording of March 2022 version. Mature young adults and older. No obscenity or explicit sex. 

PRAISE FOR DRONE CHILD

"A brainy, irresistible hero braves captivity to protect his family in this riveting tale." - Kirkus Reviews

 "Share this action-packed, sensitively rendered audio with fans of Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone and Emmanuel Jal’s War Child.” - Library Journal

"Intriguing storyline. The writing is rich and evocative... A hefty tapestry interwoven with the possibilities for change." - African American Literature Book Club.

“A tense narrative in which scenes of degradation and violence are effective without being overly graphic... A compelling story... Interesting choice for book clubs.” - BlueInk Review in ALA's Booklist

"The barbarities of the conflict in Ukraine make Drone Child all the timelier." - The Midwest Book Review

"...should be lauded for the frank conversations it has the power to open for younger readers.” - Readers’ Favorite.

• Language: English
• Publisher: David H. Rothman
• Release date: Mar 31, 2022
• ISBN: 9781736783160

David H. Rothman

David H. Rothman, a former poverty beat reporter, is best known for the TeleRead.org ebook site and his library advocacy. In another incarnation he helped Arthur C. Clarke and MGM/UA director Peter Hyams set up a trans-Pacific modem connection for the scriptwriting of the movie 2010. He has long been interested in the technological side of international development. But how does a pale-skinned white novelist in Alexandria, Virginia, get inside the head of a genius child soldier in the Democratic Republic of the Congo? Through Lemba's tech side, of course. Rothman had help from another technology fan, Junior Boweya in Kinshasa, a translator, software-localization expert, and businessman who fact-checked Gun and otherwise offered an invaluable Congolese perspective. So did the activist Jean Félix Mwema Ngandu, a former Mandela fellow. Rothman is also the author of six tech-related books and a Washington novel, The Solomon Scandals, which the Washington City Paper praised for "the same dark zeal Hammett held for Frisco or Chandler had for Los Angeles." Reach him at [e-mail].