A Long Way Gone - Ishmael Beah

http://www.powells.com/biblio/1-9780374105235-2 - This is the memoir of a teenage boy growing up in the war-torn country of Sierra Leone. When his village is decimated by rebel soldiers, Beah flees into hiding. Facing starvation and witnessing inexplicable horrors, he is picked up by the government and forced to become a soldier, murdering the rebels who killed his friends and family. This is a fascinating glimpse into the mentality of a child soldier and how both the government and the rebels train and manipulate young men into killing machines. Eventually, Beah makes his way to the United States where he has become a spokesperson against, among other things, child dehumanization. Child soldiers and the conflict in Sierra Leone were recently portrayed in the Leonardo DiCaprio film "Blood Diamond", and is a focus of the work of Human Rights Watch (for whom Beah now works). I have done some fundraising and organization work for HRW in the past, mostly focused on children in Darfur. I think this book is best read in conjunction with the literature and studies put out by HRW - most recently reporting on the first convictions in Sierra Leone for use of child soldiers (http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/06/20/sierra16214.htm).