Title of the Book: A Long Way Gone
Author: Ishmael Beah
# of Pages: 221
Star Rating: ☆☆☆☆

Review:  In Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone, dark subjects of murder, pillaging, and the destruction of childhood are portrayed through an eye opening journey of one boy and the painful path he is forced upon. Ishmael Beah's tragic life story begins in a small happy village in the jungle of Sierra Leone. At the young age of 13 after living happily in his village, the Sierra Leone Civil War fought between the Revolutionary United Front and the traditional government came upon Ishmael's front step. After the fighting got to his village Ishmael was separated from his family and stranded with his friends. The group went from village to village looking for their families until the army catches up with them and conscripts them into fighting. For the next two years Ishmael loses his humanity as he viciously fights in a ruthless bloody war and succumbs to the endless drug use. At the age of 15 UNICEF workers get Ishmael out of the war and into a rehab center where he can start to rebuild. Through the riveting telling of this tragic story, truths about our own humanity and the meaning of having a childhood are revealed. Ishmael fantastically details his journey through a mastery of first person narrative. When Ishmael must overcome a PTSD flashback at a school dance, one of which he recalls sacking a village during their school dance and hearing their screams, it becomes clear how broken and lost poor Ishmael had become. The unheard of subject matter is unlike any other book you could come across especially at such a first person perspective. The novel will take the reader on a beautifully disturbing trip through growth and spiritual rehabilitation and what it means to be alive. While the violence keeps the reader enthralled it comes to the rebirth of Ishmael that intrigues and indulges the mind of the reader. Ishmael's story is one to cherish and pass on to keep the efforts to restore the lives of those whose childhoods were robbed from them. Overall I believe anyone interested in war books or books urging the readers to desire a change in the world will delve into this book. I highly recommend it.