“It went very well. The student response was overwhelming, and Ishmael gave an inspiring talk. He also handled the question and answer portion with a lot of grace and humor. By any measure, it was a great success.”

"If only every speaker could be so gracious, inspirational, charming, cooperative, selfless, and draw a standing room only crowd! No, it was beyond standing room. We had people standing in every possible place, and people sitting on the floors, in the aisles, in front of the first row of pews, in the choir loft behind the speaker, in the church basement and other rooms with speakers, in the stairwells, and outside the doors. Needless to say, he received a well deserved standing ovation, and then proceeded to sign books and greet his fans for another hour."

"Our distinguished speakers series with Ishmael Beah was a resounding success. He provided a great lecture and connected beautifully with our audience."

"Ishmael´s visit was of high impact to our country. His message is very powerful! His presentation was amazing! He also had the opportunity to meet with key-players in our country. Everybody loved him… and I think he also enjoyed his visit. We look forward to seeing him again in the near future."

"Ishmael was such a great sport, very personable and enthusiastic even though we kept him busy. Ishmael’s visit went very, very well. Despite his visit occurring on the first day after Spring Break, many students came to hear him speak. Every seat in the room was filled. Ishmael did a great job interacting with so many, and was a huge hit with students and staff alike."

“A breathtaking and unselfpitying account of how a gentle spirit survives a childhood from which all the innocence has suddenly been sucked out. It’s truly a riveting memoir.”

“His honesty is exacting and a testament to the ability of children ‘to out live their sufferings, if given a chance.’”

"A Long Way Gone is a clear-eyed, undeniably compelling look at wartime violence."

"Beah speaks in a distinctive voice, and he tells an important story."

"What Beah saw and did during [the war] has haunted him ever since, and if you read his stunning and unflinching memoir, you'll be haunted, too . . . It would have been enough if Ishmael Beah had merely survived the horrors described in A Long Way Gone. That he has written this unforgettable firsthand account of his odyssey is harder still to grasp. Those seeking to understand the human consequences of war, its brutal and brutalizing costs, would be wise to reflect on Ishmael Beah's story."

"When Beah is finally approached about the possibility of serving as a spokesperson on the issue of child soldiers, he knows exactly what he wants to tell the world: “I would always tell people that I believe children have the resilience to outlive their sufferings, if given a chance.” “Others may make the same assertions, but Beah has the advantage of stating them in the first person. That makes A Long Way Gone all the more gripping."

"Deeply moving, even uplifting ... Beah's story, with its clear-eyed reporting and literate particularity—whether he's dancing to rap, eating a coconut or running toward the burning village where his family is trapped—demands to be read."

"In place of a text that has every right to be a diatribe against Sierra Leone, globalization or even himself, Beah has produced a book of such self-effacing humanity that refugees, political fronts and even death squads resolve themselves back into the faces of mothers, fathers and siblings. "A Long Way Gone" transports us into the lives of thousands of children whose lives have been altered by war, and it does so with a genuine and disarmingly emotional force."

"Beah is a gifted writer. . . Read his memoir and you will be haunted . . . It’s a high price to pay, but it’s worth it."

"Extraordinary . . . A ferocious and desolate account of how ordinary children were turned into professional killers."

"Hideously effective in conveying the essential horror of his experiences."

"A Long Way Gone hits you hard in the gut with Sierra Leone’s unimaginable brutality and then it touches your soul with unexpected acts of kindness. Ishmael Beah’s story tears your heart to pieces and then forces you to put it back together again, because if Beah can emerge from such horror with his humanity in tact, it’s the least you can do."