AK by Peter Dickinson

Paul Kagomi's most precious possession is his AK - his gun. He is a warrior, a boy soldier, trained for a terrible war in the African bush. He doesn't remember his real parents. For him his father is Michael, who leads the guerrilla group, and his mother is the war. Peace comes - and Paul buries his gun and goes to school. But it does not last. Soldiers come to burn the school and kill the children, and Paul must flee through the bush to find his gun and then...Will it be war once more or is there another way?