I could not put this book down when
I started reading it and realized that it was a true story as well blew my
mind. When I did my research I looked into more of the culture of Sierra Leone
but not the awful details of what they would do to the soldiers to make sure
that they would work and fight for their country. As a twelve year old boy as
well it would be so hard to fight for something that you don’t even really
believe in. To have everything that you know and love including family and
friends and have it taken away from you like that in the blink of an eye. To
think that a boy was just playing with his friends minding his own business and
the next thing you know he is a soldier in the army, living in fear.
The fact that a twelve year old boy
fears that he will be a killing machine at that age breaks my heart. I think
about when I was twelve and what I was doing is a different story. And I realize
that my childhood and Ishmael’s childhood were in totally different time
periods but still the way he was treated. He was forced to do hard drugs such
as cocaine or marijuana so that these boys pretty much would fight for
something that they didn’t want to fight for nor should they be fighting for at
that age. As I was reading this I kept thinking about how I would be feeling if
this happened to me. The worst thing in my life so far is when I had my grandpa
die and that is nothing compared to this story. Going through something even similar
to that is hard to do and the fact that Ishmael survived and was able to tell
his story shows what a strong person he is and what he can do to have a better
life for himself.
I believe there is always an angel
for you in heaven and on earth and Ishmael’s angel on earth was the nurse
Esther who helped him to understand that what he has done is not his fault and
that he needs to find it in himself to forgive before he can move on in his
life. Without Esther I don’t believe that Ishmael would be the same person in
the end. Also the fact that Ishmael’s actual family supported and welcomed him
back surprised me because in other books we have read there is usually no
family that is willing to accept the things that these children are forced to
do and I thought it was a great change that his family was so accepting. When
reading the end of the book I got so happy that he was being saved and able to
tell his story. If I were him and I found out that there were other children
like me that went through the same thing I would be happy because I have people
to relate to who understand what Ishmael went through.
Overall I really enjoyed reading
this book and loved that it was a true story. The detail of the story and the
way that it was written was easy to read and full of life. I have a lot of
respect for Ishmael and his story.
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