A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

This is a well-written, very difficult book to read. It is true and powerful, and there were so many times I did not want to continue to read a chapter because the experiences were so horrific. Ishmael Beah's story is heart-breaking, and it reminded me of all the horror and heart-break happening around the world that I tend to ignore. There is hope – but not if we act like these problems don't exist.

Book #1 for my new book club.

I liked the first 10/11 chapters of the book as the author talked about his ways of hiding in the forest. Then for a hot second (a chapter) he is a boy soldier, then the end of the book focuses on his rehabilitation. I wanted to hear more about his time as a soldier and not told in a type of flashback. That was my main issue with the book. It is still a good book to read. I was just let down a tad bit.

This is a 5-star story in a 3-star wrapping. I've averaged the two to 4 stars, reluctantly, because I hate doing so.

Beah was a child in Sierra Leone in a time of violence. Not satisfied with visiting his village alone, violence chases Beah as he flees further and further from his home, trying to find safety and to reunite with a family he isn't sure he'll see again. Along the way, he's picked up by the Sierra Leone government, turned into a child soldier, given a gun, training, drugs, and conditioning, and set loose against rebels fighting for their country. Fortunately for Beah and the other child soldiers with him, the UN steps in, separates the children from their group, and rehabilitates them.

The last half of the book was easily the best. I had no idea snorting gunpowder and cocaine was a thing (called brown-brown if you're curious; Wikipedia has an article about it), and the things these children normalize while under the rule of these soldiers are horrible. The subsequent rehabilitation and release of Beah back into society was also really interesting, as are the events that happen up until the end of the book.

Unfortunately the book just....ends. I think we're missing several story beats that would carry us, the reader, to the end of his refugee story. I also thought (and this feels gross of me to say, given the subject matter) that the first half of the book was longer than it needed to be. I didn't really feel connected with Beah or his friends until halfway through the book, because everything felt...distant and disconnected up until that point. I don't know if it was a product of the storytelling or maybe having disassociated memories from before the kidnapping, but I just didn't feel drawn in immediately.

Still, this is a violent, bloody, necessary story that I'm glad to have read.

Powerful story of courage and strength.
It took courage to go through the healing process, to go and live with family that he'd never met before; to go to America and speak (even though his uncle didn't believe in him); and when the rebels attacked again to leave the country for a better life because even though his friends around him gave in to becoming soldiers again, he realized he didn't want that for his life and he realized he wanted better for himself.