Long Way Gone Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Registered by 
SqueakyChu
of Rockville, Maryland USA on 7/11/2017
This book is in a Controlled Release!
SqueakyChu of Rockville, Maryland USA on 7/11/2017 This book is in a Controlled Release!
1 journaler for this copy...
This book was donated to the Little Free Library of Twinbrook by the owners of The Write Bookshop in St. Catherine's on my trip to Ontario to celebrate Canada's sesquicentennial. Thank you so much for your generosity, dear friends. I'm now delighted to be in charge of rehoming the books you gave me. :)
I read another copy of this book in 2010. This is what I wrote about it after I read it...
This sad and gripping memoir is dismaying testimony to how, in some places of our world, children are simply not allowed to be children. Ishmael Beah, at age 12, had been a resident of Mattru Jong, a town in Sierra Leone. Due to political turmoil, he lost his family and had to run for his life. People all around him were either being killed at random or, if young men, were recruited to be soldiers of either the national army or the rebel forces. Beah’s dilemma at that tender age was to either kill or be killed. Therefore, into the fray he was taken.
How he was extricated from this situation was an amazing story in itself. A trained soldier and killer, Ishmael was basically plucked from the military field and had to agree to completely change his life when placed in “rehab”, a situation that he deeply resented at the time.
A most discouraging part of this book for me was that, after the political situation calmed down and many young former soldiers were actually making progress in rehabilitation, more war broke out, taking with it many previously “rehabbed” young men.
This is a story which is both sad, for the profound losses that Ishmael had to bear, and joyful, for knowing that Ishmael was able to eventually escape his troubled world and now has gone on to become college educated, a successful writer, and advocate for children’s rights.
I highly recommend this book for those who like to read memoirs and for those who want to take a deeper look into problems of political unrest in African nations, with Sierra Leone being the particular focus of this book. This is a jarring story, but one which should absolutely be read. People who live in relative peace around the world should take the time to become aware of situations elsewhere where peace sometimes only seems like a dream.
This sad and gripping memoir is dismaying testimony to how, in some places of our world, children are simply not allowed to be children. Ishmael Beah, at age 12, had been a resident of Mattru Jong, a town in Sierra Leone. Due to political turmoil, he lost his family and had to run for his life. People all around him were either being killed at random or, if young men, were recruited to be soldiers of either the national army or the rebel forces. Beah’s dilemma at that tender age was to either kill or be killed. Therefore, into the fray he was taken.
How he was extricated from this situation was an amazing story in itself. A trained soldier and killer, Ishmael was basically plucked from the military field and had to agree to completely change his life when placed in “rehab”, a situation that he deeply resented at the time.
A most discouraging part of this book for me was that, after the political situation calmed down and many young former soldiers were actually making progress in rehabilitation, more war broke out, taking with it many previously “rehabbed” young men.
This is a story which is both sad, for the profound losses that Ishmael had to bear, and joyful, for knowing that Ishmael was able to eventually escape his troubled world and now has gone on to become college educated, a successful writer, and advocate for children’s rights.
I highly recommend this book for those who like to read memoirs and for those who want to take a deeper look into problems of political unrest in African nations, with Sierra Leone being the particular focus of this book. This is a jarring story, but one which should absolutely be read. People who live in relative peace around the world should take the time to become aware of situations elsewhere where peace sometimes only seems like a dream.
I am releasing this book for The First Line Game at the annual BookCrossing party at the home of authorauthor. The first line of this book is:
My high school friends have begun to suspect I haven’t told them the full story of my life.
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I'm releasing this book for the following BookCrossing challenges:
***The 2017 What's in a Name Release Challenge hosted by DragonGoddess . The title of this book contains the names SOL and LON.
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Hello and welcome to BookCrossing ... where we make the whole world a library!
Now that you've "caught" this book, it is yours to do with as you like. Read it, keep it, or give it away. It's your choice!
I'd love if you'd enter a note here on BookCrossing about this book -- where you found it, how you like it, and/or where you release it. If you join BookCrossing (free and fun), kindly list me, SqueakyChu , or any other journaler on this thread as your referring person. Thank you so much.
Enjoy the book!
My high school friends have begun to suspect I haven’t told them the full story of my life.
---------------------------------------------------
I'm releasing this book for the following BookCrossing challenges:
***The 2017 What's in a Name Release Challenge hosted by DragonGoddess . The title of this book contains the names SOL and LON.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Hello and welcome to BookCrossing ... where we make the whole world a library!
Now that you've "caught" this book, it is yours to do with as you like. Read it, keep it, or give it away. It's your choice!
I'd love if you'd enter a note here on BookCrossing about this book -- where you found it, how you like it, and/or where you release it. If you join BookCrossing (free and fun), kindly list me, SqueakyChu , or any other journaler on this thread as your referring person. Thank you so much.
Enjoy the book!
