WHAT HAPPENED ON THURSDAY?

An Igbo family struggles as the Nigerian Civil War (1967-1970) breaks out.

A war that starts on a Thursday and ends nearly three years later on another Thursday tears the country apart. A young school-age child describes the day an announcement on the radio changed everything, upending the family’s idyllic existence and forcing them on a long and arduous journey to safety. “Everything seems to be upside down,” the child tells us as the family awakens in the middle of the night, flames engulfing their house. They flee, and years pass as mother, father, and the two children travel until they finally reach a refugee camp. The young narrator makes clear that they aren’t the only ones who have suffered: “All the children look like me. Lack of food has taken our health. Lack of meals has taken our breath.” Images of supplies finally arriving and the eventual end of the war conclude the narrative on a hopeful note. The understated prose is a bit flat, and the war itself goes underexplained, though helpful backmatter offers context, noting that the war was fought between the Nigerian government and the self-declared Republic of Biafra. Digital illustrations make this important historical moment—one that many readers may be unfamiliar with—both vivid and accessible.

A brief and personalized account of a history that shouldn’t be forgotten.