I read this book a while ago and again this was one of the books assigned by the school to my elder son for his summer reading. But to write its review I revisited the book.
It’s a heart-wrenching tale of a boy and his rare childhood. A memoir of a boy soldier who not only witnessed war but also fought it. It’s a saga of adventure and desolation of a twelve-year-old child who was robbed of his childhood and innocence.
At the age of 12, he lost his home, lost his family, and aimlessly roamed the forest. While he, with his brother and friends, was few miles away from his home the rebel attacked his village and Killed his family along with other villagers. People evacuated and ran for their life. Fear and devastation engulfed everyone. They ran to hide, they ran to feel safe. Ismael Beah also ran to survive. He starved and wandered for days not knowing where. Fear of getting killed by rebel, starvation, and avenge the loss of his family stipulated him to join the government army. He became a child soldier of choice. He conquered his fear and actively participated in the war. The war changed his entire outlook. The gun which he touched with trembling hands for the first time had now become his provider and protector and the only rule his mind followed was to kill or to be killed. He kept fighting for over two years. He had been addicted to drugs and killed people brutally and mercilessly. He had lost his conscience and felt pity for no one. All this came to an end when he with the other few kids get picked by UNICEF and are taken to a rehabilitation center. The transition from a soldier to a civilian was not going to be a cakewalk either. It began with retaliation and infuriation, a soldier in him had become so dominant and controlling that it took some time for a child in him to take over. He slowly healed and with the support and care of nurses and staff, he learned to be compassionate and kind again, he learned to forgive himself. In a conference in New York where he was invited to speak about his journey and experience to date, he concluded his speech by saying “I have been rehabilitated now, so don’t afraid of me. I am not a soldier anymore, I am a child now. ”
He moved to New York in 1998 where he completed his last two years of high school. He graduated from Oberlin College in 2004. He is a member of the Human Rights Watch Children’s Rights Division Advisory Committee. On many occasions he has spoken about children affected by war and his work has been published in Vespertine Press and LIT magazine.
An exceptionally moving story and it gets topped off by it’s eloquent literary and the courage and guts of the author to share this kind of unsettling story. Indeed a riveting and an eye opening story.