It's crazy that children have to endure this.

Released into the Biographies/Memoirs bookbox.

Please enjoy!

Several years ago the author was at Miami Book Fair and I had the opportunity to go to his talk. I was really impressed with his story and he also sounded and acted very mature on stage. Glad to see his book here in the bookbox.

A very moving story. Some of the details, like the children carrying guns taller than them, or how two groups of children breaking into fights and pulling out bayonette and grenades, or threatening the "sissy civilians", are almost funny if they weren't so sad.

Off to booklady331 as a RABCK. Hope you enjoy it. Stay safe and well!

Received this today. It may have come sooner but I was on vacation and returned today. Thank you so much for not sharing just this book with me, but also two others. I was surprised. I appreciate your generosity.

Thank you for sharing these books from different countries. I enjoy reading about different parts of the world. Sharing books with other book lovers is one of my enjoyments.

What a sad tale of young boys taken to become soldiers just so they can survive. This story has a happy ending but not all of the boys who were forced into war have happy endings. The story takes place in Sierra Leone which I knew just very, very little about. I enjoyed the chronology dates at the end to give the reader a brief history of this country.

Enjoy! RABCK to Hobbit for OH, The Places We Can Go Release Challege 2021 -- Long, Washington

This is a quick, but sad read.

Thanks for the RABCK!

I already know that I'll be sad when reading it, as I've been saddened by similar books and by hearing a bit about similar issues from students when I was in Sudan. But ignoring it doesn't make it go away and it's better to learn so that we can advocate for a better world.

It took me far too long to get to this, and then far too long to journal about it once I finally read it. It's, as expected, incredibly sad. He doesn't go into too much detail about some of the horrors he experienced - just enough to let my imagination fill in the gaps.

I volunteer on weekends, teaching English to asylum seekers who've landed in my town. This story reminds me of one young man from another country in western Africa. He recently told me that he left home because soldiers from different sides of the conflict came to town about once a week searching for young men to fight. His family always hid him but he knew that if he stayed, he'd end up as a soldier. So he undertook the long and dangerous journey to the USA - several plane flights, a cramped bus ride, hiking through the jungle, paying off bandits and smugglers. Now he's here and trying to improve his English and find work. He misses his family. These stories are heartwrenching, and they replay over and over.

I'm counting this book toward 666 for 2023 - an around the world reading challenge. It's my final book for Africa this year.