1.  Narrative

Ishmeal Beah was born in Sierra Leone in 1980. Up until the age of 12, Ishmeal seemingly had a normal life. And then disaster struck. Rebels invaded his village and along with his friends and brother he was forced to run from his hometown. In running he had to leave his family behind. Within a year, Ismael had become a child soldier. Throughout the three years of his military career, he watched many people, including some friends, die. He also, at one point in the story, locates the village where his family was supposedly hiding out. When he is merely a few yards from the village he sees the rebels attacking and setting fire to the location. It is assumed that his entire family is killed in the fire. This along with many other incidents emotionally and mentally scars him to the point of him shutting down. After this incident it seems Ishmael becomes so cold that the death and fighting doesn’t seem to faze him any longer.

Three years after the fighting breaks out Ishmael, who is now living with his uncle, is chosen for an interview at the United Nations to talk about child soldiers in Sierra Leone. After interviewing Ishmael is chosen to speak about his role in the war at the United Nations in New York. It is here that he completes his high school career while educating other about the war.

2.  Major Accomplishment

I would say that a major accomplishment of Ishmal Beah is completing college. This was a boy who from the age of 12 to 16 was stuck in a war. For three of those years he was fighting for his life and was unsure that he would ever even live to be of age to go to college. He graduated from Oberlin College in 2004 and is now an author and an activist for children’s rights.

3. Major Struggles

I would say that most of Ishmael’s childhood was a major struggle. Throughout his fighting, he had become a drug addict and a murderer. By the end of the book, Ishmael has overcome both his addiction to drugs and his demons from the war. Without overcoming these things he would never have become the success story his is today.

4. What I learned

Before I read this book, I knew absolutely nothing of this person. To be completely honest, I picked the book out because it looked interesting. I learned about a war I never knew existed, and the life story of a man who overcame this war.

5. Why did you like or dislike this book?

I liked this book because it shows the gruesome truth about the wars they are having in Africa and how disgusting they are to the point that they are using child soldiers. They are taking the childhood away from so many children. I like that this book described the war from the point of view of an actual person who has experienced it. Many times you read about wars from a newspaper or you see a little bit of it on television, but this book tells you and explains thoroughly what goes on from a war veteran’s point of view. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about foreign wars.