Book Title: A Long Way Gone - Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Author: Ishmael Beah
Length: 226 pages
Brief Description:
(From Book Jacket)
“My high school friends in New York City have begun to suspect I haven't told them the full story of my life.
(From Book Jacket)
“My high school friends in New York City have begun to suspect I haven't told them the full story of my life.
“Why did you leave Sierra Leone?”
“Because there is a war.”
“Did you witness some of the fighting?”
“Everyone in the country did.”
“You mean you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?”
“Yes, all the time.”
“Cool.”
I smile a little.
“You should tell us about it sometime.”
“Yes, sometime.' ”
This is how wars are fought now: by children, traumatized, hopped-up on drugs, and weilding AK-47s. The United Nations estimates that there are 300,000 child soldiers fighting in fifty conflicts worldwide, Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.
What does war look like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists and novelists, but few who have endured this hell have told their tales. In A Long Way Gone Ishmael Beah, now twenty-six years old, tells his gripping story: At the age of twelve in Sierra Leone, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts. At sixteen, he was rehabilitated by UNICEF, learning how to forgive himself, regain his humanity and finally, to heal.
This is an extraordinary and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.
Why I Recommend It:
It is tough to imagine what the youth in Sierra Leone have gone through during the civil war. If you saw the movie "Blood Diamond", maybe you have an idea, but this book gives a first hand, true to life account of life as a child soldier. When reading the book, it is tough to comprehend the terrible things that the author and other youth in the country have seen and experienced. This is a well written, high-impact book.
It is tough to imagine what the youth in Sierra Leone have gone through during the civil war. If you saw the movie "Blood Diamond", maybe you have an idea, but this book gives a first hand, true to life account of life as a child soldier. When reading the book, it is tough to comprehend the terrible things that the author and other youth in the country have seen and experienced. This is a well written, high-impact book.
Do I have a copy others can borrow: Yes
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