Familys in a childs life has the most impact on them. It shows them how to grow up and
who to trust. In the book “A Long Way Home” by Ismael Beah, is a true memoir about a boy
named Ismael Beah who grows up with many struggles and no family. He was only about
twelve years old when he was performing at a rap group and his village was attacked by the Civil
War in Sierra Leone leaving him and his group of friends homeless without their families. While
they are alone they struggle finding food and a shelter in different villages. While Ishmael is
looking for his family in different villages, he is captured by Lieutenant Jabati which turns him
into a boy soldier killing innocent people and making him addicted to drugs. He is then found by
UNICEF which puts him in rehab to help him find a future and fix what has happened to him in
the past. But it was not easy for him to express himself, until he finds a nurse named Esther who
helps him express himself by giving him a walkman with rap; which helped him express what
has happened in his past. He is then welcomed to live with his Uncle Tommy in Sierra Leone,
who is his next new father figure. He is then more confident about himself and shares his storys
with the United Nations in New York. Which helps him meet his foster mom named Laura
Simms who helps brighten up his future and moves then lets him move to the United States with her. Ishmael then later returns to Freetown, Sierra Leone to live with Uncle Tommy again and
while he is there the Civil War returns. His Uncle Tommys dies and then Ishmael moves back to
the United States to live a