Favourite Novel - War - Exploitation

This is a... Long Way Gone...
by: Ishmael Beah

Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

      This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.

     What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived.

      When I read this novel, I felt that this war very REAL. I could see blood everywhere, women and children exploitation, murder, drugs, and fire everywhere. Sadness...

Ishmael Beah

Plot Summary

1.  Before the RUF attack

2.  RUF attack and flight

3.  Recruitment and life as a child soldier

4.  Rescue and rehabilitation

5.  Adoption

6.  Return to Sierra Leone and flight abroad