child soldier Emily (book source 1 and 2)

Child Soldier book 1

A long way gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/product-description/0374105235/ref=dp_proddesc_0?ie=UTF8&n=283155&s=books

Book is a collection of sheets of paper bounded together in one edge within covers. Books are very influential source of media for it speaks and communicates verbally with the public through stylistically written languages. One advantage of books is that it can convince people through vivid personal stories but this can be a disadvantage as well for many people may believe fiction books to be true as well. Therefore it can easily convince the public through vivid descriptions and powerful language. This particular novel I have found is called “A long way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier”. This book is a personal narrative by a man named Ishmael Beah, who once was a child soldier and had experienced the cruel cvil war as a young twelve year old boy.

This gripping story takes place in Sierra Leone, where the narrator becomes a child soldier through the civil war that is marked as one of the most brutal and violent civil war times in recent history. Throughout the book, Ishmael explicitly describes his transformation from a normal twelve year old boy to an angry drug addicted child soldier. Through the three years of horrible war, Ishmael loses the control of himself and becomes a violent teenager, killing countless people. The violent and verbal descriptions cause the readers to visualize the possible images in their heads about his self destruction and really feel the emotions and pains that the narrator had to experience. The disturbing narrative and the tone of his voice convince the readers how brutal it is to live as a child soldier.

Throughout the novel, the author communicates with the readers how serious this child soldier issue is and inspires the readers to have more interest and support banning child soldier. Through his powerful narrative, the readers are able to engage with the cruelty that the child soldiers are facing. Also, as he narrates about his recovery in the rehabilitation center, the narrator encourages the teens in the world to always have hope.

However, one of the limitations in this novel is that this is only conducted by Ishmael and his view points. Therefore it is not possible for the readers to look at this issue in any other forms. Even though the book convinces the readers to realize and acknowledge the importance of banning child soldier, it also conveys negative aspects. As Ishmael believes what he had done was not his fault for the society had caused him to be in this situation, this may bring some negative aspects and ideas to the young readers that it is okay to behave in a certain way if the society allows it. In other words, this particular narrative consists of a strong biased in the view point of child soldier. This also conveys a negative aspect of books that it lacks other voices and contains limited facets.

To sum up, as I read some parts of the book, I was deeply convinced by his vivid and strong language. Even though some contexts bothered me for the violent language was very unpleasant, the language itself caused me to communicate with the narrator and his message to the readers.



Child soldier book 2

Children at War
http://www.amazon.com/Children-at-War-P-Singer/dp/0520248767/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1220786953&sr=1-2

The second book I have found is called “Children at War” by P.W. Singer. The author of this book discusses the new phenomenon of children at war through his study. Dr. Singer analyses the different ways that the child soldiers are being used in various cultures. Throughout the book, he demonstrates his ideas and thoughts through his personal interviews with people involved with the child soldier issue in different areas. The tone of the author is very objective, as he convinces the readers to engage in his research with reasonable supports and analysis. His works involve the changes of the child soldier in the late 20th century and the early 21st century. The author deals with various topics like civil and guerrilla conflicts that have caused the children to be in the war. Through this closely researched report, the author gives the readers the ideas and solutions to the child soldiers. Although both books I have found cover the detailed writings, this particular book contains no strong emotional voice as the purpose of this book is to give information rather than to inspire others like the one above.

I have found this book very valuable even though it lacks the grasping vivid voice like the book I have found earlier. The characteristic of this particular book is that this gives valuable information in different areas in which the author had collected through his studies. One of the strengths of this book would be the fact that it does not contain much prejudice. As this book only deals with the facts and research, it is very valuable for education.

To sum up, I thought this book was very interesting for the author expanded his ideas in different ways by doing personal research to convince the readers of his reflections and founding. This particular book therefore portrays one of the strengths of the book, which is providing factual information.