A Long Way Gone, by Ishmael Beah, is an extremely powerful and emotional book. Ishmael begins his story in his hometown; his friends and him are about to leave to go to a talent show for rap. While they are gone his hometown is attacked by a rebel army and he is forced to go on the run with his friends. He writes about his struggles of trying to survive as a 13 year old boy with no resources. The boy's face challenges around every corner, whether it be finding food or being attacked by scared villagers. After travelling for weeks and experiencing much hardship, Ishmael finally gets to bit a stability, only to have it ripped quickly away when he is enlisted into the army. Ishmael shares some of his war stories and then goes on to write about how he recovers from the traumatic events of being a child soldier.
A Long Way Gone is unique because it shares a personal encounter with being a child soldier. Ishmael puts you in his shoes and you really feel what it was like to be there because of how it is written in first person. As you read you feel like you are there with Ishmael experiencing what he is experiencing, although some of his memories are hard to imagine because of how horrific they are. Ishmael also writes dialogue the way it was spoken which makes it easier to be in the book.
I would recommend this book to people that like to read war stories because it is a first hand encounter of being a child soldier before, during, and after. I think this book would be a great tool to use in help raising awareness of the problem of child soldiers because it includes the violence Ishmael went through at a young age, this being an eye opener to most people. You experience how Ishmael is changing and losing his innocence and childhood as his journey continues. All around it is a really captivating and moving book that makes you want to do something for child soldiers.
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