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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
This is a powerful true story about the experience and rehabilitation of a boy soldier in Sierra Leone during the civil war. The story opens up with Beah telling about his life in Sierra Leone and how it drastically changes when the RUF come to power. Later, he explains what it was like working for the military to combat the RUF. Finally, we see the trying process it takes to get the boy soldiers rehabilitated. What I found to be most interesting was the second half of the book, where we really see exactly how this life is impacting Beah and how it changes his life.
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
fast-paced
This is a great book. It gets four stars instead of five only because the narrative lags a bit during the time of the author's "rehabilitation." This process is very interesting but somewhat opaque from the author's perspective. I think that observation is an important part of the puzzle in rehabilitating child soldiers and other victims of trauma, but it also makes for a less interesting book. Nonetheless, a great memoir about a tragic and horrific series of events, told with an engaging voice. I highly recommend reading this alongside [b:Blood Diamond by Greg Campbell].
Also...no, I didn't really read the Vietnamese edition. My Vietnamese is as rusty as my Serbo-Croatian. I don't know why that's the version that Good Reads insists on pulling up.
Also...no, I didn't really read the Vietnamese edition. My Vietnamese is as rusty as my Serbo-Croatian. I don't know why that's the version that Good Reads insists on pulling up.
Great book. Tells the story of Ismael's life as a boy in Sierra Leone, how his family was killed during the civil war, how he ended up as a soldier in the military. Very powerful story. I would highly recommend.
Ishmael Beah holds nothing back. He reveals the hardships that he suffered in this striking personal memoir. Readers come to understand the way in which boy soldiers believed they were almost having fun instead of participating in the war. The boy soldiers saw it as punishment when they were forced to undergo re-assimilation into society, though in readers' eyes assimilation seems the best path. This memoir is a must read whether you know about the boy soldiers or have never heard of them.
Every story of a child soldier needs to be read and known about. I didn’t give this a five star as the ending of the book is well, not really an ending. Yep t leaves the reader in limbo about such monumental moves in Ishmael’s life.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
This man went through some terrible events in his life; events that are on the outer realms of my imagination. But, the writing is fairly week and the chronology of the events doesn't really make sense. It seems as if there is so much that Beah doesn't know what to add or subtract.
This is a most touching story of a young boy's experience in Sierra Leone. I found Beal's writing easy to follow. I was swept up into a trek through the jungle, without shoes or water, running for my life to keep ahead of the massacres behind me. As a mother I went through moments of tears grieving for the childhood that was lost, then rejoicing in a rebirth in a new home. This is an intensely moving account of what war does to change children from "non-combatants" to "soldiers" and is a must read in this day and age.