What Compares to this Book

I have never read anything quite like A Long Way Gone. This book tells the true story of a boy soldier and recounts his experiences through his life in Sierra Leone.


 I am a person who likes to read fiction books. Ones with action, with a plot that pulls you into the book and makes you sit on the edge of your seat through the entire story. I love a book that has a plot that could never really happen in real life, one that my imagination can overwhelm me.


I never really liked reading non fiction books. I always found them boring and never really had a great plot. After reading A Long Way Gone my views on non fiction have drastically changed. I absolutely enjoyed this book and want to read more like it. Yes it was sad but it was so hopeful too.


When I look back to my reading history I have only read one thing that shared one of the themes in this book. It was called Underground to Canada. It was about slaves trying to get to Canada using the underground railroad. This book as well as A Long Way Gone both show that there is always hope even in the darkest of places.


The mood throughout the book is of horror and fear while Ishmael goes through the war period in Underground to Canada it is when the children need to get to the railroad. As the book goes on the mood becomes more hopeful and uplifting. Ishmael becomes a better person and the children reach the railroad.


Both books say that life may have challenges but we have the strength to go on and get through it.