Growing up in Sudan, Emmanuel Jal was one of 10,000 child soldiers that fought through two separate civil wars for nearly a decade. His life changed when he was adopted by a British aid worker and eventually recorded and released his own album. His memoir is called War Child and his story has also been made into a documentary with the same title.
http://www.wnyc.org/shows/lopate/episodes/2009/02/05/segments/122953