“Spilled across the pages of his book like blood and bone fragments on the soggy jungle floor, are scenes so unimaginable that Western readers will feel the devastating effects war has on children in this world to their core. Told as seen through innocent eyes and as felt by small hands, it is a report ...

“A Long Way Gone is a vital addition to a small but growing canon of literature to emerge from post-war Sierra Leone, the first new writing from that country since the post-colonial writers if the 1960s. His story holds out the hope of redemption, for a boy and for a country.”

“It may seem strange to greet with relief a book that chronicles the brutal life of a former child soldier, but given what our society considers print-worthy, it is refreshing that the memories and reflections of 26-year-old Ishmael Beah receive attention. …Even more important, it admonishes us to think ...

“When asked why people are interested in his story, [Beah's] modest response reflects the beginning of his book: ‘When people hear about the war it’s so distant they can’t see the humanity of the people that it affects. I’m putting a human face to it so people can realize it’s not so distant. They read ...

“Make no mistake: Beah’s memoir is off the charts in its harrowing depictions of cruelty and depravity. What saves it from being a gratuitous immersion in violence is his brilliant writing, his compelling narrator’s voice, his gift for telling detail, as well as the book’s final section that details ...

“Beah’s heartbreaking honesty and incredible insight combine to provide a powerful memoir and message.”

“A Long Way Gone isn’t just Beah’s engrossing account of child soldiering, it’s also about the nightmarish transition from one life to another, from child to adult, from schooling to killing, and back again. His experience is a testament to the monumental rehabilitation process that awaits half a million ...

“Forget about blood diamond and any other Hollywood depiction of child soldiers in Africa. Ishmael Beah is the real thing. In clear-eyed prose, the young man from Sierra Leone tells a powerful story of murder and redemption. …This is an important books.”

“A Long Way Gone is a gritty, beautifully written book about the civil war in Sierra Leone and the children who were forced to fight it. Ishmael Beah comes from a culture of story-telling. And in clear accessible prose, he transports us along on his journey to the depths of hell.”

“The power of his book is the way it shows how normal kids can be swept into madness, and that it is possible after all that to reclaim one’s humanity.”