A Long Way Gone

This is an another true story that I have been reading for school. This book tells the story of Beah, a boy soldier from Sierra Leon. At the age of 13 he is forced to flee from the rebel soldiers and is witness to unspeakable acts of violence. At the age of 13 he is picked up by the government army and given drugs, an AK-47, and told that the people he will be killing are responsible for the deaths of his family. A cold blooded killer is born. At 16 UNICEF intercedes and Beah is removed from the fighting. Because of the dedicated staff at the center where he is placed Beah is eventually able to come to terms with what has happened and realizes that he has to forgive himself.

A Long Way Gone hits you hard in the gut with Sierra Leone’s unimaginable brutality and then it touches your soul with unexpected acts of kindness. Ishmael Beah’s story tears your heart to pieces and then forces you to put it back together again, because if Beah can emerge from such horror with his humanity in tact, it’s the least you can do.

— Jeannette Walls, author of The Glass Castle: A Memoir

A breathtaking and unselfpitying account of how a gentle spirit survives a childhood from which all innocence has suddenly been sucked out. It's a truly riveting memoir.

— Time Magazine

Deeply moving, even uplifting ... Beah's story, with its clear-eyed reporting and literate particularity—whether he's dancing to rap, eating a coconut or running toward the burning village where his family is trapped—demands to be read.

— People, (Critic's Choice, Four stars)

When Beah is finally approached about the possibility of serving as a spokesperson on the issue of child soldiers, he knows exactly what he wants to tell the world: “I would always tell people that I believe children have the resilience to outlive their sufferings, if given a chance.” “Others may make the same assertions, but Beah has the advantage of stating them in the first person. That makes A Long Way Gone all the more gripping.

— Christian Science Monitor