The main character in this book is Ishmael Beah he ranges from twelve to sixteen in the book. He also has some friends that come and go in the story. The story takes place in Sierra Leone, Africa during a war torn time in the country. The problem Ishmael faces in this story is that he is thirteen, lost his family, on many drugs, and is a boy forced into war for his survival. Ishmael does not, at first, try to solve the problem because he has been brainwashed to think what he is doing is doing the right thing then at the end he is in rehabilitation and tries to become sober and free of thought of what he had done to people. In this story a lot more interesting things happen such as almost meeting up with his family, many adventures in the wilderness, and Ishmael coming to New York City and seeing snow, many cars, etc.
As a reader I would recommend this book because it’s great and keeps you turning pages. But as a student I don’t know if I would recommend this book because it is more in detail about the blood and harsh way the people were treated. The scene that had the greatest impact on me and made me think for awhile was when I imagined when the rebels went into town and were very harsh and violent to the point of death of unborn and born babies, also crude and wild to the mothers and other women. I don’t think this author would make a good teacher or professor but would be a great to person to talk to about one of the world’s greatest problems that we don’t even think about because it has just started to have been talked about. This book was heart wrenching, sad, and made you look at the world in a different perspective because of what the people are going through.
Reviewed By: urbs518
