"A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah. Harper Perennial, 2008

Joyful 12 year old Sierra Leonian was on his way to a talent show in a nearby village when his village and all the surrounding ones were attacked by the rebels. Soon his treasure, some rap cassettes, were exchanged by force by an AK47 gun. After two years he was released to an NGO for a rehabilitation process. When war broke up in the capital of his country he managed his way out of the country. Ishmael lives now in New York where he found a foster mother to sponsor him. He has now finished university. The book became a best seller in the USA. "Everyone in the world should read this book", The Washington Post says. An intense account of endurance and wisdom.

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