A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Soldier Boy

Author: Ishmael Beah

Ishmael Beah leads a typical pre-teen life in Sierra Leone: hanging out with friends, going to school and performing American hip-hop songs. But when the civil war reaches his village in 1992, he becomes separated from family and friends and sets off on a harrowing journey of survival through a country ravaged by war and atrocities. Captured by government troops when he is thirteen, this gentle boy is traumatized, hooked on drugs and trained to kill. Beah's beautifully written memoir tells a riveting story of fear, loss, violence, friendship and redemption. The themes of this book are relevant to adolescents today and would spark fascinating class discussions.

Year Released: 2006

Grades 7-12