Book Report A Long Way Gone By Ishmael Beah

1074 Words3 Pages

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah tells the true story of a boy soldier during the civil war in Sierra Leone. Ishmael is 12 years old, living in Mogbwemo when he decides to travel to Mattru Jong to perform in a talent show. While there, the rebels attack his town, and Junior (his brother) and him immediately race back home to their parents. Along the way, they change their minds because everyone is fleeing. So many are wounded and killed, that they assume their parents are no longer there. For about a year, Ishmael has been going from town to town, just trying to survive. Never staying in one place too long, because he knows the war will come to their town soon enough. During his journey, he finds other boys and all of them continue together …show more content…

After their escape, one of the towns they were staying at is attacked and the boys are separated, Junior is separated from Ishmael. As Kaloko and Ishmael are alone and on the run they find a family to live with in the forest, Ishmael wants to keep moving though, so he takes off on his own. He lives by himself in the forest for a month before he leaves after a wild boar encounter. He then ran into six boys, some he recognized from school. After eating a crow, their friend Saidu dies, most likely due to illness, but it is unclear. They keep walking until Ishmael runs into a bachelor from his hometown, he informs Ishmael that his family is in the village below. As they hurry down the hill, the village erupts in gunshots and screams. Ishmael runs down to his family, but because of the fire in the house he cannot tell which charred bodies belong to his family. When they see the rebels are in the village, they flee but Gaseum (the bachelor) is shot and killed. The boys flee, but get caught by government soldiers. They are living happily on the base, until the lieutenant asks the boys to join the army. At age thirteen, Ishmael was a child

Open Document