Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com

Average Customer Rating:

Prob. the best book I ever read...	Customer Rating:
Never in my life have I been so involved in a book as this one. For one person to have actually lived this life it is amazing to me. A wonderfully written book.

A must read for every teenager and parent

Customer Rating:

This book should be read by every teenager in the United States and there parents. Our children of today think life is so hard on them. If they read this book as written by someone who had life turned upside down on them and came out with a purpose they would know that they have a pretty good life in the USA. He will never be able to get his childhood back but can now recover from the things no child should have to see or go through. I really enjoyed this book he made you think that he was a "storyteller of his village". I do wish that he had added a couple of chapters at the end on how he is doing today and what he is going to do next.

A long way Gone	Customer Rating:
I really liked the book. Its a story that needs to be told and Mr Beah does a great job of relating his experiences as a solider in Sierra Leone. Enlightening and heartbreaking. Highly recommended

A disturbing, but fascinating, look into Africa

Customer Rating:

A Long Way Gone chronicles the life of a young teen in Sierra Leone who is fleeing the Rebels who are wreaking havoc in villages throughout the region. He falls in with a group of boys trying to survive, but since everyone is suspicious of groups of boys, they live a hard life. Eventually they, between the ages of 14 and 17, are conscripted into the Army to fight the Rebels. The book is very well written. It is intense, gripping and honest. You will be amazed what was transpiring in Sierra Leone less than a decade ago. This, like so many tragedies in Africa, didn't get a lot of press until after the fact. If you ever think you have a lot of problems or find yourself complaining a lot, you will gain a lot of perspective from this book. It is a short book (about 250 pages) and so engrossing that you will probably finish in just a few sittings. I haven't read a book this good in quite a while. Highly recommended. Caveat: this book is not for the faint of heart. If books got ratings like movies, this would easily get an "R" rating - the war it describes is not pretty. However, I felt the book was well done and does not unnecessarily dwell on anything unpleasant.

A Long Way Gone	Customer Rating:
Surprisingly well written for someone with a background of being a civil war soldier at such a young age. His intelligence shines through. What this boy has lived through, and the ways he tries to overcome adversity, should be an inspiring story to anyone. Once I started this book I never put it down.