About this title: This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them. What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived. In "A ...
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Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Thorndike Press
Date Published: 2007
ISBN-13:9780786296408ISBN:0786296402
Description: Good. Used item may show library stamps, stickers and marks. Buy with confidence-your satisfaction is guaranteed at B-Logistics! Due to the large scale of our operation, we do not have access to the specific contents/condition of our items. Please note that Expedited shipping is not available at this time. read more
"Ishmael Beah was a young boy living in the suburbs of Sierra Leon, a relatively small country in western africa where they are known for their diamonds. Ishmael Beah lived a somewhat normal life as a child. He had divorced parents and lived with his father and visited his mother on occasion. One day, he was going with his friends to listen to rap music in a nearby town. He was recruited by rebel soldiers at only the age of 13. This autobiography tells you about an important and modern issue in society that not many of us are informed of. Child slavery and use of children for war. This book can get intense at times, but I would say it is an interesting read. It shows the differences between the children in our society to the children of a society where civil war is constantly on the look for and children are the victims. I enjoyed learning about Ishmael Beah's change from when he lived in his war torn village of Africa to when he made the move to Brooklyn. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in learning about modern issues in our world that aren't issues in our society."
"Well, the rating says it all. It was amazing. I sort of feel guilty for enjoying the book since it's a memoir and that means all that horrible stuff happened to that guy. Critics who dislike it or want to say 'you can't remember all that stuff' need to shut up. Not only do I -know- people who have photographic memory, he actually addresses the fact that he has a photographic memory. Yeah, rant, but that book was just amazing. The pathways all connected together and everything made sense. It's probably, once again, because it's a memoir, and memoirs make facts line up because it's impossible for it to be different."
"I will never. Never. Complain about my childhood again.
Okay, that's not true. I will. But when I let out a sad sigh of remorse that I didn't figure out exactly why I really wanted to be friends with that one guy in band in high school until it was way too late to do anything about it, I will at least think, "At least I wasn't killing people and snorting gunpowder."
Like most of you reading this, I knew absolutely nothing about what was happening in Sierra Leone in the 1990s. I didn't know there was anything to know. For all I knew, we had fixed Africa back in '84 when the First World Lonely Hearts Club Band belted out "We Are The World" and made us all notice the famine in Ethiopia. And anyway, that was in east Africa. West Africa was supposed to be a little better organized.
Shows how much I knew. Turns out all hell was breaking loose. After more than a decade of one-party rule, the Sierra Leonean military got into power and behaved pretty much the same way most African military governments did. Badly.
In reaction, a rebel group, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) started rampaging through the country. Their initial cause was to get rid of a corrupt government, but they very quickly went corrupt themselves, burning and slaughtering as they went. The rebels were vicious and bloodthirsty, and one of their most common ways of recruiting was to murder men and woman en masse and bring their sons into the fold. They would manipulate them with fear and drugs and hate, turning boys of ten, eleven, twelve years old into murderers.
Ishmael Beah was on the other end of this. His family was killed when the RUF ran over his town, along with most of his friends. He and his schoolmates tried to run away, but were eventually ensnared by the army. The army of Sierra Leone were hard-pressed to fight the rebels, and needed recruits. So they would take in boys who had been left orphaned and rootless by the war and hook them on fear and drugs and hate, turning boys of ten, eleven, twelve years old into murderers.
Hmmm....
This is the story of Beah's descent into horror and his successful return from it. He was one of way too many child soldiers in Africa, and probably one of the very few who came through his experience not only intact, but willing to write about it. I first saw him on The Daily Show, and honestly it is really tough to reconcile what you read in this book with the bright-eyed, smiling young man sitting across from Jon Stewart.
Thanks to Dad, for the birthday present.... *smile*"
"I cried for this boy throughout the book due to the gruesome nature of what he went through. It is a true story of a war I was unaware of during my life time. It opened my eyes to what is and has happened to young children around the world. I was horrified at the reality, but rejoiceful that one person could have so much courage to go through what seemed like never-ending trials. I left the book with my eyes and heart more opened. Whenever I hear of war, I'm sure I will related it to what went on with this young man."
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