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This is one of those books that has been on my TBR for years. In fact, it would stare at me from my bookshelf every time I passed by. Enough is enough. As it is a short book by many standards I thought I’d read it in one sitting. But it’s intensity and subject matter left me picking it up, reading a couple of chapters and putting it down.

Although this is a short story, it is very intense, very descriptive, and very disturbing. The author is quite a good storyteller and as such his memoir is very moving. He has written it some ten or so years after the events during which he is made to become a child soldier in Sierra Leone. His descriptions are very detailed and mostly tragic, but his ability to inject humour or flippant commentary to lighten the mood is quite helpful.

The story is about his being forced to become a child soldier, his escape from that group, his rehabilitation, and then his fleeing the country. At the end of the book is a chronology of the history of Sierra Leone which is also very interesting.

Central to the author’s story is the concept of “family� and the many forms it takes, particularly after his family is killed. Despite the life of a child soldier who fights and kills, including many innocents, the author has a deep and recurring strength to find and keep a “family�.

This book really only covers a short snippet of the author’s life, and while it is very descriptive of the time period covered, I must admit I was expecting more details about the war. The will to survive was central to their plight, but the extensive use of drugs numbed their senses and encouraged the violence. Just all very tragic.

The book ended rather abruptly. But for the references in the book to his life now, (and of course the ability to google his name), you are left somewhat wondering how he ended up “here� from “there�.

All in all, it was interesting reading and somewhat educational.