Reading Response on Book Club

             In the book “A Long Way Gone” by Ishmael Beah there is lots journeys and struggles. Throughout the book, the author faces lots challenges and emotional breakdown. From knowing that his parents might be dead, to knowing that to survive you must fight as well. Ishmael fights to survive in this devastating war by thinking that his parents are still alive. His motivation is his mom and dad because he wants to see them again and live happily. Along his journey he fights the rebels by joining a army.

            In the book “A Long Way Gone” the author who is also the main character goes through struggles and challenges. Although he is going through this, his motivation for finding his parents is keeping him alive. For example when Ishmael and his friends were walking in the woods trying to stay alive they were talking about there families. Ishamel said “ I have a feeling that we will find our families or at least news of them” this quote shows us when you want to survive you need a goal. For Ishmael that goal is his family. He and his friends sometimes sit down somewhere and cries trying to let it all out. They than stopped and realized that they can't find there family if they keep crying. So they started to move and tried to stay alive.

           In the book “A Long Way Gone” the author who is also the main character joins a army. He wants to survive this war so that he can find his family. This army fights against the rebels. He wants to kill all the rebels because of the bad things the rebels did. One time when a guy told Ishmael that his parents are alive, Ishmael didn't wait and rushed to the place where they were. When he sees the place burned and people dead, he loses hope and doesn't care about living. This shows us that his motivation to live and survive was his parents.

           Overall the character Ishmael went through a lot as a child. He lost his parents in a war, and had to survive to become who he is now. Ishmael motivation to survive was his parents. When they died there were others that wanted him to live. His struggles and challenges made him who he is now.