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	<review id="11152862">
    <user id="48684">
    <name><![CDATA[Susan]]></name>
    <location><![CDATA[Saint Cloud, MN]]></location>        
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  <id type="integer">43015</id>
  <isbn>0374105235</isbn>
  <isbn13>9780374105235</isbn13>
  <ratings_count type="integer">12154</ratings_count>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">3039</text_reviews_count>
  <title>A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier</title>
  <average_rating></average_rating>
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  <link>http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43015.A_Long_Way_Gone_Memoirs_of_a_Boy_Soldier</link>
<author>
  <id type="integer">24189</id>
  <name>Ishmael Beah</name>
  <ratings_count type="integer">12701</ratings_count>
  <text_reviews_count type="integer">3188</text_reviews_count>
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    <rating>5</rating>
  <votes>0</votes>
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  <recommended_for><![CDATA[anyone who's interested]]></recommended_for>
  <recommended_by><![CDATA[A review I saw somewhere]]></recommended_by>
  <read_at>Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008</read_at>
  <date_added>Fri Dec 28 09:19:25 -0800 2007</date_added>
  <date_updated>Mon Sep 08 14:15:31 -0700 2008</date_updated>
  <read_count></read_count>
    <body><![CDATA[It's hard to really say anything bad about a memoir recounting a horrific war torn childhood. Not a feel-good read, but it was insightful on a number of levels. He describes what life was like in vivid detail in Sierra Leone before his village was violently destroyed, so you know what he had and what he lost. He then spends a bulk of the book on just running from them before he becomes a soldier by force. It was actually less graphic than I was anticipating, there's a level of detachment he has with his writing which I believe is how he deals with what happened. I wish the ending were less abrupt and more detailed, but I think the guy deserves big kudos just for being alive. ]]></body>
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