A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier – Book Review

Published Date: February 13, 2007

Publishing Co.: Farrar Straus Giroux

Pages: 229

Goodreads Synopsis.

Rating: 4 out 5 stars

If you have a child in your life who just thinks that they have just the worst life, please have them read this book. Hell, if you know an adult who thinks that they’ve had it the worst, maybe throw this at them too. This isn’t to negate other people’s suffering but sometimes you just need a little perspective thrown at you to make you appreciate your life.

There are a decent amount of war stories recounted by people who lived through them. But, it’s not every day that you read about a child’s perspective of war, especially a child who was also a soldier in the war. It’s an almost unimaginable concept to consider, but consider it we must as it happens in every war.

When you think about how they did anything, literally anything, to survive, your mind most likely goes to things like, smuggling weapons and starving. It’s so much more than that. It’s being fed drugs to keep you fierce, it’s fueling the pain of losing your family with hate for your enemy, it’s shooting people at point blank range and slitting throats. It’s fucking brutal. It’s children being forced to be brutal in order to hopefully live one more day. It’s heartbreaking and I don’t even like kids that much.

It’s important to show the grim reality of war. It should not be taken lightly. Ever.

Ishmael’s struggle through the Sierra Leone civil war is gripping. So much so, that I was miffed about the abrupt ending. Yes, I can assume what must have happened next to young Ishmael but I want to hear it from him. I want to know how his life changed once he escaped the war for good.

Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy – Book Review

4 out of 5 stars

“Women, it seemed, were capable not only of significant acts of treason, but of executing them more deftly than men.”

It’s Women’s History month! What better time to read about rebellious bad ass women who effected the courses of history? Peril be damned, these ladies were not to be stopped. Literally. Imprisoned? Continue spying and exchanging important information from your cell. Broken leg? Drag yourself back up on that horse and keep riding. Confederate general in your house? Continue sneaking Union soldiers through your secret room right under his nose. Exiled to the South? Sneak up to the North to see your relatives anyway.

This book follows four women, two helping the Union and two helping the Confederacy from the beginning of the Civil War until the end. It was genuinely fascinating. One of the ladies was able to sneak Union soldiers back north by dressing them in Confederate uniforms, then the soldiers were to lay at the bottom of a wagon with breathing holes cut into the floor, covered with a tarp, with manure piled on top. Just taking out the dead bodies and manure, y’all. (It worked, a lot.)

If you enjoy history and are looking for some serious feminine power, this is a great read. Even if you don’t agree with some of the ladies’ opinion, the sheer will and power these women flexed during times when women were just to be cozy homemakers is awesome to behold. They’re just a few of many who helped pave the way for women today.

“Her comrades spread stories about women being exposed in the ranks, and such stories seemed to grow more numerous by the day.”