Ending the memoir A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Solider by Ishmael Beah, my finial thoughts would be that this book is a miserable adventurous story about a twelve year old boy named Ishmael, who is forced to join an army in Sierra Leone. Ishmael’s village gets attached by the rebels and he gets separated from his family through the chaos. Lack of food, water protection and shelter, Ishmael has no other alternative but to join the army, seeking revenge towards the rebels any way possible for his family who he no longer has. A few years into being a soldier, Ishmael gets the opportunity to travel to Freetown and get away from the army.

When he arrives to a camp based rehabilitation center, traumatized, Ishmael and other young children suffer from with drawls, the addiction to do drugs and hurt whatever comes into contact with them. Ishmael suddenly comes into contact with his long lost uncle. Thankfully, Ishmael has recovered from the war and is ready to move in with his uncle and his family. Soon after this, Ishmael gets the chance to go to New York and explain what children suffer from in the wars and how others can fix it. There he meets a lady tells him stories he has heard before when he was a child, which builds a strong connection between him and her. Ishmael becomes very close to this lady.

Ishmael goes back to Freetown after the meeting in New York where there he experiences an unexpected war, once again. Loose bullets, and malnourishment causes Ishmael to get into contact with Laura Simms, the lady he meet back in New York. She agrees to let him stay with her so long as he gets to New York himself. Ishmael of course manages to do just that and is now away from the war for good.

I thought this book brought forth the real ideas of what a “hard life” is. Knowing what this poor young boy had to go through for most of his child hood is very distressful. A Long Way Gone is a great book to know about what real children go through yearly in other countries.