ReviewsHumansHow child soldiers heal after the trauma of warShadows into Light looks at the mental health of Sierra Leones former child soldiers Researchers are studying how to help children and their families recover from the trauma of war.WENN Rights Ltd/Alamy Stock PhotoBy Elizabeth Quill1 hour agoShadows into LightTheresa S. BetancourtHarvard Univ., $35For more than two decades, Theresa S. Betancourt has followed the lives of children (now adults) who returned home after being forced to fight in the civil war that ravaged Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2002. Thousands of children unwillingly participated in the violent conflict as soldiers, spies and laborers. Many took part in attacks on their own neighbors and relatives, many faced sexual violence, many witnessed unspeakable atrocities. In her new book, Betancourt, director of Boston Colleges Research Program on Children and Adversity, shares what she has learned about the factors that have helped some of these people recover and even thrive.