Pam Parish

I just finished reading this amazing book written by a former Sierra Leoneon child solider who lost his entire family and his childhood to a horrible civil war that lasted from 1991 - 2001 in his country. I’ve been studying the war in Sierra Leone recently as I prepare for a two week trip there in October as part of a missionary group building a medical clinic and school in Grafton Village. I continue to be shocked by the sheer inhumane violence and terror that tore this nation apart.

Moved, shocked and saddened are all completely inadequate words to describe the impact of this book on me. Ishmael’s retelling of his innocent childhood being ripped apart by gruesome civil war and the dramatic ways in which it impacts his life are equal parts horrific and heroic. My heart breaks for the suffering of the men, women and children of Sierra Leone and their continued fight to overcome the effects of more than a decade of unfathomable violence.

If you want to open your eyes to some of the most tragic events happening in our world (these things continue to happen in places like Darfur) - read this book. I promise you’ll be forever changed and you won’t be able to put it down.

Thank you, Ishmael, for opening your soul so that the rest of us could understand.

Amazed at the bravery of so many in far away places,