A Long Way Gone

I'm reading a book called "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" and am nearing the end but I thought I would write a little about it anyway. It's about a boy who was born in Sierra Leone in 1980 and by the age of 12 had left his home to flee from rebels. By the time he was thirteen he had become a soldier in the governments army. It's truly an incredible and heartbreaking story. You see a little bit of this kind of thing in movies; children running around with AK-47s, killing like it's nothing. I think it's easy to become desensitized because of this. Even the story seemed almost unbelievable and I had to remind myself that it was a true account of this author's life. I think it's sad that these children, at such a young age, get their lives and childhood ripped away from them and are forced into a world of violence, death, and drugs. The book reminded me that we are so lucky to live in a place where we can walk down the street without having to watch our backs everyday out of fear that some rebel group will attack our town. It really opened my eyes to a reality that I knew about but never really thought about. I would recommend this book. It's a little graphic in parts but is overall an amazing story of a boy soldier who lost it all but was given a second chance at life.