Having grown up right in the middle of the Lebanese Civil War (1975-1990), Charbel sought to tell his side of the story at long last: what it was like to have been a child in war, how life unfolded among the daily bombs and explosions, and how his family was finally able to escape the ongoing danger to find peace halfway across the globe. Although religion and politics run rampant in Lebanon, Charbel's book "Growing Up, Blowing Up! is not about any of that. Rather it is about fear and suffering yet happiness and love as well - there was always joy to be found despite the threat of death. Thankfully, his story had a happy ending.