A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

This book is disturbing and for that reason should be on the short list of required texts for college. Unlike the WWI and WWII war books which read like ancient history this one hits close to home as most of the events transpired within the last decade. The author does a great job of telling his story from a boys point of view with imagery that will give you nightmares.

If you cannot handle reading about graphic violence, rape, murder, wartime atrocities, then do not buy this book. Otherwise it is a good companion to the Blood Diamond movie which covers some of the same material.

This book about the boy soldiers of recent wars in Africa was especially meaningful for us because we lived in neighboring Liberia for 2 years just before the wars broke out. We were teaching school up "in the bush", and some of the boys thought it would be wonderful to be soldiers when they grew up. Well, they did not have time to grow up before the wars came and they were conscripted. The first hand account by Ishmael Beah matches what is published and/or shown about the war events in other countries. With the current attraction of our boys in the US to video "war games", they need to read what life is really like for boys in other countries. Parents need to know and make sure their children are aware of the plight of children in much of the world. It would counteract the huge desire for more things and entertainment here, and perhaps would cause our youth to be caring and benevolent to the many causes there are to help the unfortunate of the world.

In this autobiography, A Long Way Gone, Ishmael Beah tells the story of his Civil War experience. In his tragic story, Beah is trying to share his struggles with the world so that people are aware of what had happened to children in Seria Lone.
Throughout the book Ishmael looses his parents, sister, brother, and friends. For a month or so he is alone until he finds a new group of boys. These boys go though a lot together and end up becoming close friends. Later in the book they find a campsite that is willing to supply them with food and shelter, just what the boys need, in return for one thing; they had to become soldiers to help protect that campsite from the rebels. Ishmael had never planned on becoming a soldier so he was a little hesitant at first, but finally agreed. . As the months went on, Ishmael started to learn to love his life as a soldier and didn't want to give it up, until one day when he had no choice. Ishmael was picked up by a rehab center that helped children stay away from war. He finds out that life outside of the war is a lot different.
Ishmael did a great job in explaining his experience without leaving out any details. I felt his struggle and his emotion that came with it while I was reading his book.
Personally, I loved this book. Most of the time it was hard to put down. As a high school student, the book's descriptions were so vivid and realistic that it almost felt as if it were a movie. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good nonfiction book that is hard to put down.

This book is so interesting that it is hard to put down and if all of this is true that these boys went thru it; it's more amaizing that the human body and mind can go thru so much and survive with some sort of humanity.

A Long Way Gone is a memoir of Ishmael Beah's days as a child soldier in Sierra Leone. Some reviewers have questioned the accuracy of the details...I read this book with an open mind, realizing that this book details the author's memories of the events he experienced as a child soldier. Beah is a good storyteller, and effectively illustrates the horrifying reality of living in a country where the government is so vulnerable to rebel forces. The details are vivid, and at times, very difficult to read. I cannot fathom how traumatic it must have been to see so many people killed, and to be one of the killers. This is Beah's story, and the fact of the matter is that what happened to Beah is going on in other countries today, and everyone needs to be aware of it. This book should be required reading in middle and/or high school. An incredible story.