Summary of the Book : Part 1

This Is How Too Many Wars Are Fought Now: by young children, holding AK-47s, all drugged up. It is one of the great evils of our time. But we know little about it, because most of the young-soldiers are killed in the war, never heard from again. In this story, Ishmael Beah, provides a rare account of what it is like to be 13 years old and living a life where, it seems, you have two options: "To Kill or Be Killed." His story begins in 1993, in Sierra Leone, on the Western Coast of Africa. Ishmael, his older brother Junior, and a friend set out from home to enter a talent show in a nearby village, Mattru Jong. They may not have TVs, but they've still managed to pick up a passion for American hip-hop. But when they arrive in Mattru Jong, the boys learn that rebel soldiers, part of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), have attacked their home village, and are now headed in their direction. Being young men, Ishmael and his friends are in jeopardy because both the rebels and the Sierra Leone Armed Forces (the government army) are known to force boys to join them. And if the boys resist? They kill them on the spot. So the boys flee into the forest, not knowing what has happened to their families back home and not sure where to go. As they run, the boys are confronted with terrible scenes of brutality. The dead and dying litter the countryside. The full force of war hits Ishmael when he sees a woman carrying her dead child upon her back.