A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier (2007)

By turns disheartening and uplifting, this memoir of a young man who was caught up in Sierra Leone's civil war was recommended to me by my college roommate and dear friend Menna. Beah attended Oberlin with us, and although I didn't know him personally, he and Menna were friends through their involvement in the African Students Union.

This heartbreaking work follows Beah from the idyllic days of his childhood, through the horrors of war, to his eventual escape to the United States. Separated from his family when the fighting between rebels and government forces reached his home in the southeastern part of the country, twelve-year-old Beah found himself part of a wandering group of displaced young boys. The hunger they suffered, the hardships endured, and the terrible bloodshed they witnessed, are described in graphic detail. Eventually recruited into the government army, Beah became an active participant in those horrors at a very young age, drugged and programmed to kill by the adults in charge. Salvation came in his selection for a camp with a program specifically designed to rehabilitate child soldiers, and when the war eventually reached his new place of safety, he was forced to flee the country altogether...

As a personal memoir, A Long Way Gone is powerful and moving. I am forced to disagree with some of the reviewers who take Beah to task for not giving more background on Sierra Leone and its civil war. While I too would like to be better informed, this book accomplishes what it sets out to do: it shows us what it feels like to be a child in a world suddenly and inexplicably descending into madness, to be helpless in the grip of forces well beyond our control. This story of one human being's suffering was emotionally powerful stuff, but it also prompted me to think about the larger issues, not of Sierra Leone, but of human nature and culture. It demonstrates how fragile our humanity can be, how easy to subvert when our ties to family and home have been violently severed. But it also demonstrates the resilience of the human spirit, how those who have both witnessed and participated in terrible acts are NOT forever lost and broken - that many of them can be found and restored again, if we but had the will and resources to effect it...

The book is the true story of the author's life in Sierra-Leone, and the story of many other children swept up in the war there. When the author is 12-years-old his village is destroyed and his family lost. He wanders for years, sometimes with groups of other boys, sometimes alone, trying to avoid the rebels and to find a safe place to exist. Eventually hopped up on drugs and handed guns, the boys find themselves soldiers.

I really liked this book. I believe that students need to see the importance of this difficult time in history. It's a brutally honest and raw story. These child soldiers that is still occurring in the world today are traumatized, addicted to drugs and turned into killers. In today's world, children have become the soldiers of choice. It's a sad truth, and its something that doesn't get nearly as much attention as it should. This book, is a first hand account, told by a former child soldier, and should be a mandatory read for everyone.

This would be a great book to read and for students to do more research on. Students can research child soldiers and Sierra-Leone. Students could also use this book to write. Students can write a story using first person on what they believe they would experience if they were forced to be a child soldier after reading "A Long Way Gone." ( )

A Long Way Gone is about a 13 year old boy whose name is Beah. It takes the reader on a journey of war filled with blood, drugs, and weapons. Beah begins to believe this is the way he should live once he was a soldier for his country. He participates in the African war in Sierra Leone, a former British colony in West Africa. He was had no choice in joining his country’s military at such a young age which turned a young boy into a violent man. Once he was 16, the UNICEF took him out of the army. This book tells about his time in the U.S. and inspires people through his personal troubles.
This would be one of those books that I would have teach after a really happy lesson. As my students read this book, I think it would be a good idea to keep a journal or an electronic blog. I would want them to research the military in other countries and to remember how lucky they are to have a choice. Even though this is a sad book it is very thought-provoking and allows students to feel sympathy for another culture and other people their age. A blog would allow them to share what they feel chapter by chapter. If it was online they would be able to engage in something they can relate to and reply to their peer’s blogs.
I enjoyed reading the book because it was a memoir, but it was pretty depressing. I have read some of the other reviews on this book and people talk about how they would not want to teach this book to their students. I don’t really understand why because our students are living in a country where there are innocent people being bombed and shot every day; why can we not teach them about the dangers and hardships in other countries. Maybe if we stop beating around the bush about “bad” things happening and let our students speak up about real life then they could help stop wars in other countries or at least be aware. This book allows the reader to feel because of all the experiences Beah goes through. ( )

A Long Way Gone is the striking memoir of a young boy from Sierra Leon. The book begins as Ishmael Beah recalls a few memories of his youth, which take place before his country becomes ravaged with war. Ishmael's innocence as he and his friends stuff their crapes, listen to LL Cool J, and travel to a talent show helps readers to understand on a deeply personal level the tragedy of the young African boys' loss of childhood. The horrors that Ishmael and his friends undergo as they search for their families and try to avoid the R.A.C. are unspeakable, but they are all related to the reader in an unflinching voice that remains clear even in the midst of mind-numbing violence and drug use. Ishmael's journey to safety and sound mind is completely engrossing, and is a must-read for any teachers who are concerned with introducing their students to humanitarian world issues. Warning: It is impossible not to cry while reading this book! ( )

A Long Way Gone is a sad, but true story written and narrated by Ishmael Beah. He tells his life experiences of how as a young, normal boy from an African village is forced to live a life changed quickly from happiness with friends, family, and rap music to living a life of hell in the middle of a civil war in his village, Sierra Leone, Africa. He describes in great detail the time he lived that included witnessing horrible violence, many murders, a lot of blood and torture, starving for days, hiding and running for days and nights in the woods, being scared beyond belief, losing his family and many more shocking experiences. He also shares about the terrible dreams he has, how lonely he is and how the only way he "survived" is remembering his family members and the lessons he learned from them. These terrible things happened before he was captured as a child soldier. He feels that the only way he will survive is to become a part of this army. He is brainwashed to kill or be killed. He is convinved that he is getting revenge for the men who killed his family and friends and thousands more innocent people. Eventually, Ishmael is rescued by UNICEF and is rehabilitated. He beings to heal emotionally and physically and is reintroduced to his love of music and a happy life filled with caring people. Ishmael tells his story in hopes that his experiences may help other young boys in Africa and around the world.

May students can be asked to do a variety of assignments that relate to this story. One assignment is to have them write a short paper on the subject of family: the family life, family relationships and family environment that Ishmarl belonged to during his life. I would additionally tell them to elaborate on whether they think something life what happened to Ishmarl could actually happen in the United States.

A Long Way Gone was very sad story. I have heard of horrible things like this happening but I think because the writer was the actual victim, it really came to life. I was relieved to find out that it had a happy ending for Ishmael. I have always enjoyed reading books that are true stories.