A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

This book has good description and is an 'easy read'. It had a very interesting story about a boy in Sierra Leone and what changes his life.

This was a very heart wrenching book. A recommend for everyone so people are made aware of the atrocities of war. Even thought you are made aware of the terrible situations you understand how people cope in how ever bizarre a manner.

I was really interested in this book and thought it was very well written. I would have given it 5 stars, but it was very disappointing how Ishmael ended the book!

An inspirational story. This young man lost his family, his home, his innocence, but managed to start over.

"Killing was as easy as drinking water" is the analogy Ishmael Beah uses to describe his time as a child soldier in the war-ravaged country of Sierra Leone. His memoir is a hard read, but a must read. The descriptions and details made me want to believe his tale was fiction, but sadly I knew it was not. Truth can be shocking and horrifying, but sobering as well.
Ishmael lost everything due to the war and was then recruited as a soldier for the government. The government! I have read countless stories about child soldiers for rebel armies, but this was news to me. These so-called government troops gave children the option of starving and going it alone or being taken care of by joining the army. High on drugs to the point of insomnia, the children were trained to fight anyone outside of their troop.
Reading this book made me angry. I felt a lot of emotions I don't like to feel. But to read this book and not feel those emotions is a crime. We in America need to be exposed to more stories like Ishmael's because we have more power to invoke change.
Ishmael was one of the lucky ones. UNICEF was able to rehabilitate him. Most child soldiers die, but even some who end up at a rehabilitation camp never heal. Many go back to the front lines because war is the only reality they know. Childhood memories have long been washed away with blood.
I urge you to read this book to educate yourself on issues not directly related to you. Read this book to feel someone else's pain. Read this book to see how the rest of the world often lives. Read this book to be grateful of where you live. And finally, read this book and refuse to forget Ishamel.