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Summary: This is how wars get 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.
At the age of twelve, Beah fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he'd been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts.
My new friends have begun to suspect I haven't told them the full story of my life.
"Why did you leave Sierra Leone?"
"Because there is a war."
"You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting at each other?"
"Yes all the time."
"Cool."
I smile a little.
"You should tell us about it sometime."
"Yes, sometime." (from amazon.com)
Where can I find it?: Upper School library, Walczak building
Tags: Autobiographies; Autobiography; Beah, Ishmael, 1980-; Biographies; Biography; Child soldiers; History; Military participation--Juvenile; Personal narratives; Sierra Leone; Social conditions
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