A Long Way Gone: Theme

     Throughout this memoir, there is one major thing that is repeated throughout. Ishmael cheats death time after time and continues to survive. A Major theme in this book is death and rebirth. On Ishmael’s journey to survival, and to look for his family, he faces death with every turn. Almost every village, aside from two or three, attempt to kill him and his friends upon entry. Almost every village saw the young boys as rebel recruits. Each time the boys were lucky enough to be released alive. Entering villages wasn't the only way Ishmael almost got killed, he also had to deal with the elements. At one point in the journey, one chief had taken away his shoes, so Ishmael was forced to walk barefoot on the hot ground when Ishmael said on page 60 that "it was over 120 degrees." He also ran into a heard of wild pigs that chased him for miles. Eventually, Ishmael was recruited by the rebels and forced to take drugs that made him kill innocent people. This was also a near death experience. In the end, Ishmael starts to experience rebirth once he reaches the hospital. Rebirth didn't come as soon as he reached the hospital, since when he first got there, he still said, "it was infuriating to be told what to do by civilians." (page 138) With time and care, Ishmael was weaned off of the drugs he was taking and was on his way to recovery. At one point in time, a nurse even gives him a cassette tape, which triggers all of his childhood thoughts. Ishmael’s uncle then brings Ishmael into his home to provide love and shelter for him. 

     I feel as if death and rebirth define the whole outline and story line of this memoir. Do you feel death and rebirth were important to the story? If not, what other theme was more prominent?

A Long Way Gone Pt 2

     Ishmeal had been living in the town of Kanator when one night the rebels attacked unannounced. Everyone who could, ran. But when Ishmeal ran, he lost Junior and his friends. Ishmeal was now alone. He just kept walking and walking until he would find food. Ishmeal could never climb coconut trees, but on his journey he bacem so hungry that his adrenaline allowed him to do so. Ishmeal lived off of oranges and coconuts for a long time. He hadn't seen people in days until the sixth day when he ran into a family out by the river. He went to the river to wash off and ask for directions. The family seemed cautious around him but still conversed with him. As soon as he got directions, he set out on his way to save the family discomfort. While continuing his journey, Ishmeal eventually landed himself in a forest where he had no clue how to get out. He spent countless days in the forest until he ran into wild boars and had to find his way out. Once he made it out, he ran into some old friends who he began to travel with. They ran into a village that wasn't accepting of them and kicked them out and took their shoes. While they were lucky to survive, they were set up for extreme failure being left to walk the hot days barefoot. Their feet were destroyed while they continued their journey, until they ran into an extremely generous man who took them into his fishing shack to treated their feet and feed them. They were so grateful for this man until the man's town found out about the boys. The only thing that helped the boys to survive was Ishmeals rap cassettes. When the chief listened to the tapes he came up with a decision, which was that Ishmeal was "just a child." (p68) He freed the boys and made them leave.
     If I were Ishmeal, I would be extremely lost without my brother. I more than likely wouldn't be able to move forward in life without him. I would be depressed and unmotivated. Would you be able to go on without your brother during the war?

A Long Way Gone Pt 1

     Ishmeal was just a normal kid. He, his brother, Junior, and two friends used to watch TV at a local pool, when they saw a few young men speaking very fast to a beat. They found out that it was called Rap and they fell in love. They wanted to spread their love for rap by traveling to a town a few miles away called Mattru Jong. They packed their pockets with cassettes of rap music and set off to Mattru Jong. Upon their arrival, they met up with two more friends who had lived in this town, They soon heard of an attack by Rebels on their hometown, Mogbwemo. The boys were in shock and all they could think about was going home to find their families. They set out immediately to head back towards home. On their way through one of the neighboring towns, they ran into several injured people coming from their hometown. One man even pulled up in a van full of his dead family members who were shot during their escape. That was when they boys knew they couldn't return home and that their families weren't still at home. They set back to Mattru Jong. While there, they got notified that the rebels were coming for them. When the rebels came, the boys escaped, but not for long. They eventually became so hungry that they needed to go back to Mattru Jong to find their hidden money. This turned out to be a not so good idea because this got them caught by the rebels. They were going through their captures and deciding who would be recruited and who would be killed when they heard gun shots, which allowed the boys to escape. After escaping, they ran into a town that thought they were rebels. They tied them up and were ready to kill them until a boy from their hometown told the leader that they weren't rebels. At this town is where Ishmeal, Junior, and his friends settled for the night. Ishmeal really wished he knew what his brother was thinking. Ishmeal thought, "I wanted him to ask me if I was fine." (p40)
     If I were Ishmeal I would not have survived this long. I would have been caught and killed by rebels so long ago, Reading his memoir makes me so happy to hear he was able to escape death so many times. I would also pull Junior aside and ask how hes feeling and talk to him if I were Ishmeal. Since Junior was the only family he had left at this point, I think it is really important for Ishmeal to connect with him so they can get through this together. Should Ishmeal stay quiet or talk to Junior?

Just Listen pt. 3

     It was time for the big Koph's fashion show. Annabel and Emily were both in it. At this time, Annabel and Emily aren't talking. Annabel can't even bare to look at Emily. After getting through the fashion show, though, Annabel goes to a party and gets a little too drunk. Annabel is pulled into a bedroom by a man, but she doesn't know who. She struggles to get away from the man. As the man is trying to have his way with her, Sophie storms in, and sees Annabel with Will. Sophi goes insane, and completely flips out on Annabel. Annabel is completely shocked to discover the man attacking her was Will. Sophie doesn't even consider the fact that Annabel may have been raped, and calls her a slut, then asks, "you think you can just fuck my boyfriend at a party and think I won't find out?" Sophie blames Annabel completely. That Monday, Owen asks how the fashion show went and Annabel could not bring herself to tell him what had happened. She couldn't tell anyone. This caused her to fall into depression. She stopped talking to Owen and even her family. She couldn't face anyone. On top of her depression, Sophie made it her mission to make her life miserable.
     What brought her out of her depression was understanding her own thoughts, then listening to Owens show one Saturday morning. This wasn't any show, this show made her immediately hop in her car to drive to the radio station to talk to Owen. That's when she told Owen everything. Owen, who was mad at first, understood completely. He encouraged her to do something about it and tell her family and a lawyer. Annabel talked to a lawyer and had to appear in court to testify. She sees Will has a black eye in court and notices Owen is not there. After court she finds out Owen had lost it and punched Will for what he had done to her. Owen was now grounded and it was up to her to fill his spot for the radio show. She played a pop song which brought Owen right to the station to walk into his favorite song. Owen and Annabel stood in each other's arms and just listened to the song.
     If I had to award this book with an original award, I would definitely award it with most Relatable Teen Book. This book is so easily related to by it's teen readers. Annabel experiences events that teens these days also face on a day to day basis. Do you agree with my award based on my summary? Why?

Just Listen pt. 2

     Annabel is at a modeling gig with her new friend Emily when she begins thinking back to when she first met her. Annabel had taken Emily to a party with her friend Sophie and discovers at the party how Sophie doesn't approve of her new friend. While Sophie was off ignoring Annabel for finding a new friend, she finds her new boyfriend, Will Cash. Annabel walks in on them kissing and leaves, embarrassed. For the rest of that week, all Sophie did for the rest of the week was talk about how awesome Will was. But Will wasn't as awesome as Sophie made him sound. Will cheated on Sophie any chance he got, and that made Sophie target any girl Will talked to, and made Sophie and Will break up to get back together soon after. This happened over and over. This is why most girls at school didn't get along with Sophie and Annabel. Sophie became obsessed with Will and he was all she started to care about.
     Next Saturday morning, Annabel woke up at 6:57 and realized Owen's show was in 3 minutes. Annabel got to listen to his show for the first time. His show bombarded her with loud, unexpected music. When the show was over, Annabel was surprised and confused. When Owen asked her thoughts on Monday, she didn't want to tell him the truth. But when she did tell him how she hadn't enjoyed it, he simply said, "I knew it!" while slapping his knee. He was completely okay with it and that left Annabel even more confused than she was with his show.
     If I were Annabel, I would have told Owen I needed to listen to the show one more time and found something good about the show to talk about. I also would have told him that I wanted more of a chance to get into the type of music. I would have showed interest and sorrow for not liking it the first time around, since I believe there is a way to nicely tell the truth. Would you have told Owen the truth, or lied? Why?

Just Listen pt.1

     Annabell is just a normal girl who is very low-key. She is even friends with the town's least known girl, Clark. She also models for an unpopular clothing brand, Koph's. Annabell and her two sisters, Whitney and Kristen, modeled together. Annabell hated modeling. She wanted to quit, but she felt that if she told her mom she quit, that her mom would leave her family again like she had done when Annabell was younger. Her mom suffers from some type of depression.
     With all the commotion going on at home, Annabell wanted to get out and went to a party. The party wasn't what she had expected. She almost got raped by a by she goes to school with, named Will Cash, over the summer. When it was time to go back to school, her parents let her older sister Whitney, who was mentally unstable, take the car out for the first time in a while to take Annabell to school. She told her to have a good day and that she would see her at 3:30. Only Whitney didn't show up at 3:30.
     Annabell walked towards the parking lot at school going over her school notes when Will Cash drove by and yelled out to her. He asked her where she had been and made her extremely uncomfortable without even trying. She ran in disgust towards some bushes to vomit, hoping no one would see her. But her plan had failed. A boy named Owen had seen her and approached her to offer her some help and a ride home, since Whitney was a no show. Embarrassed, Annabell accepted Owens help and the ride home. On the ride home, he told her about his radio talk show that aired at 5 in the morning. He told her she should listen some time and he had hoped he could see her again.
     Annabell was overwhelmed with her encounter with Owen and strangely completely excited and giddy. She couldn't wait to listen to his radio talk show and to talk to him again.