"I walked toward black Mary with my hand lifted. But just as I was about to reach her, June stopped playing... Drawing it back, I looked around me...

and it was like seeing everything through a train's thick window. A blur passed before me. A moving wave of color. I am not one of you, I thought." (Kidd 111).

This quote really brought a tear to my eye. The reason June stopped was because a young white girl was going to touch the black Mary. In the book race is a big issue and it shows through here. June doesn't want Lily touching the black Mary for that particular reason and that reason being that she is a young white girl, a stranger, and about to touch something sacred to that family and the small black group. Lily wanted to be a part of the moment and to feel accepted, but just when she was about to, June showed how she really felt. Even toward the beginning we see racial issues.

No matter what we do, there will always be some form of racism. It's not just toward black people, but also Mexicans, Chinese, etc. You name it, it's there. I dislike racism immensely and wish it would just disappear all together, but that wish won't be fulfilled for an extremely long time. Racism affects the world in many ways. Racism affects daily tasks of an individual if they were to pass by the person they were racist against on the street. Slowly we change how we view people over the years, but the change is so gradual it's almost invisible. In the past we had slavery and treated black people like dirt. The only thing we managed to fix was the slavery...

Why does Lily want to touch the statue of Mary so bad?

I think Lily wants to touch the Mary statue because she wants her to accept her. She is afraid that no one will accept her because of what she did in the past. She thinks that if she touches Mary's heart then Mary will always be on her side. Lily though, was also afraid to touch the black Mary because she also was worried that she wouldn't accept her. Lily had to get out of the past though. She needed to stop thinking about her regrets and just live her life. She did not need to touch the Mary statue because the black Mary was always with her. She lived inside everyone.

Why is Lily's name 'lily'?

In the book The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily is a motherless fourteen-year-old in need of consolation. Her mother's caretaker as a girl was August Boatwright, the lady Lily ends up staying with. Lily lies about her past and while waiting for August to come into her room (so Lily may confess the truth and then ask questions about her mother), she picks up a book. The book is Mary Through The Ages, referring to Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ. I was not surprised to learn that this book was on August's shelf because the Boatwright sisters host a worship service held by a circle of women called the 'Daughter of Mary' every week in honor of the Virgin Mary. (I, myself, am completely shocked by this religion solely based on idol worship.)
Lily, flipping through the pages, considers the many pictures of Mary. "The big shock, though, was all the pictures of Mary being presented with a lily by the angel Gabriel. In every one, where he showed up to tell her she was going to have the baby of babies... he had a big white lily for her" (Kidd 234). Deborah, Lily's deceased mother, had lived with August before Lily was born. She had obviously been exposed to the Daughters of Mary, and therefore would have known that a lily is the sign of purity in old pictures of Mary and the angel Gabriel.
My assumption is that the author, Mrs. Kidd, intentionally put this part of the book in to give the reader a hint. This is how she came up with a name for her main character, I am sure of it. Mrs. Kidd created an exquisitely detailed story, and she gave each character their own background and elaborate description. The authoress recognizes that nobody is an outsider, but that we all play a small, yet significant part in someone else's story. Lily's story is one of heartache and restoration and the amazing power of love. I truly think she is innocent of her mother's blood, that it was no one's fault but the gun's. Lily may not feel pure, but her mother loved her with innocent and genuine passion.

"The next time I'm going to toss you one with the powder in it...(109 Myers)"

I think throwing an armed grenade is not a funny joke even if it isn't filled with the powder. Where he got the idea that it could be is what gets me and I can't agree that it was a good move.

"If God said in plain language,"I'm giving you a choice, forgive or die," a lot of people would go ahead and order their coffin" (Kidd 277).

In the final chapters of the book Lily finds out the truth about her mother. Lily hates her mother for leaving her behind when she did. She cannot believe her own mother would do such a think to her. Lily says she will never forgive her for what she did. All these years she thought that T. Ray was lying when he said that her mother left her behind. I think that is why it hurt so much when August broke the news to her.


After finding out the truth Lily cannot stand to be with anyone. She needed to be alone. She spent many days out along the river just thinking about everything. No matter how hard she tried she could not get over the fact that her only mother had left her. She never thought that she would ever be able to forgive her mother for what she had done.


Being abandoned as a child is probably the hardest thing to cope with. Even though it was so long ago for Lily and she never knew until her teen years. She never really knew her mother and now she finds out that the mother she never really knew left her behind as a baby. If I were in Lily's situation I do not know how I would really get over something like that. I would try my best to forget about it because there is nothing she can do about it now. Even though it hurts more than ever, she just needs to move on in life and realize that what she has now with her new family is the best thing she could ever ask for. Lily has something better than just one mother, she has three. August, June, and Rosaleen are all she needs to be happy.

"I have noticed that if you look carefully at people's eyes the first five seconds they look at you, the truth of their feelings will shine through...

before it flickers away" (Kidd 104-105).


This quote really stuck out to me as I was reading chapter six of The Secret Life of Bees. When Lily says it she is referring to what she sees in June's eyes when she looks at her. Lily cannot figure out why June isn't particularly fond of her. August and May have really seemed to warm up to Lily and they are very happy that she is with them. Lily just does not know why June is different.
The way that Lily sees people is very interesting to me. She always tries to see the good in everyone. Which is really easy for me to relate to. That is how I am, I always try to find something good and likable about everyone. Its harder with some people than others, but I still do my best. I think that is what Lily wants June to do with her. Lily herself does not think the highest of herself so she is just looking for someone to find the good in her.

"Please Note. Parts are included for all installations, but no installation requires all of the parts" (Kingsolver 88).

In The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver, the main character, Taylor, tells her new found friend Lou Ann about her philosophy on men. This quote was taken by Taylor from the instructions on the package to a toilet repair kit. At first glance, the words seem only to be talking about the kit, but Taylor saw the much deeper meaning they could have. Taylor sees the "parts" as her own physical and mental attributes, and the "installation" as a relationship. So, to Taylor, the quote is really saying how even though she is still her entire self with all the "parts" in a relationship, the man she is with will never need or want all of those "parts." It is this realistically blunt view of the world that define's Taylor's attitude through much of the novel.

Although I know not the answers to the vast mysteries that love holds, it seems to me that Taylor's philosophy would hold true. How could any person desire every single aspect of their significant other? Even if they were immensely deep in love. I think the reason that this is a virtual impossibility now is because one cannot know all the "parts" of their love. Furthermore, one cannot simply tell their significant other about all of their attributes because they do not even know them all themselves. It is extremely difficult to learn entirely about one's self, never mind entirely about another. However, if the world were to change, so that this philosophy of Taylor's would not hold true, people would first have to look in on themselves. Then those people who have reached utter self understanding can pass on all of their knowledge on to their lover and achieve a higher level of romantic bonding. In summary: both lovers must know about all of the parts in one another's kits before they can use them all in the installation. -Cory Partridge

ADVICE TO LILY OWENS

I have been reading The Secret Life of Bees, a book about a fourteen year old girl named Lily Owens. For the past ten years of her life, Lily has been living with her abusive father, who she calls T. Ray, along with the haunting memory of the night her mother was killed. For most of her life, she has been more of a slave to her father than a daughter. As a result, Lily decides to run away with her "stand-in mother" Rosaleen. After Lily discovers that her real mother had visited Tiburon, South Carolina, she decides to go there. Once she arrives in Tiburon, Lily meets three beekeeping sisters named August, June and May. These sisters let her stay, but only because Lily lied about what was really going on. She said that her parents were both dead and that she was trying to stay out of an orphanage. After a few months of her living there, Lily starts asking questions about her mother, and the sisters become suspicious of her story.

If I could give advice to a character in the book, it would be to Lily Owens. I would tell her that she should really try listening to Rosaleen. Rosaleen told Lily that she should tell the sisters who she really is and what is happening to her instead of trying to run away from her life. I think that if Lily told August, May and June the truth, they would understand and try to help her. I would also tell Lily that running from her problems is not going to do any good and will just make things worse for her and Rosaleen.

"I wanted to make her love me so she would keep me forever"(Kidd 94)

I am reading The Secret Life of Bees, Lily throughout her life has been rejected from her father ever since her mother was killed. Her mother was killed by Lily accidentally shooting her, I think that is why her father resents her and gives her no love. When Lily got older and could not take T. Ray's abusive ways she ran away with her friend Rosaleen. She found a beautiful place to stay with amazing people that live there. Lily spends all her time with August who is a bee keeper. August is soon treating Lily like her daughter, but Lily still can not get her guilt away from killing her mother. When she first met August she lied about her whole life and she still has not told her about her other life. She is afraid that if she tells August she will hate her like her father did.

Lily is always trying to make August love her more and more so that when she figures out who Lily really is she will not hate her. Lily thinks that she is a horrible person that has done nothing right in life. Soon though August will show her what an amazing and incredible person she is. People in this world are always trying to impress other people, but really everyone knows who you are. Usually who you are is a much better person than what you try to be.

"I wanted to say that the only dead person I had ever seen before had been my grandmother. I wanted to say that when I saw her I was ready, walking

into a darkened church with the family and sitting in the first pews. But Jenkins was different. Jenkins had been walking with me and talking with me only hours before" (Myers 43).

I read "Fallen Angels" by Walter Dean Myers. Richie Perry was the main character, and he had joined the army right after highschool rather than going to college. He was smart enough to get into a good university, but did not have the money for it, so it was his second choice. This quote, to me, shows that he was not fully prepared for the military. He had not given the dangers much thought before he enlisted, and when one of the men he was with was killed by stepping on a mine, he was lost.

Perry hadn't even thought of this happening in his first few days in Vietnam. There was so much going through Perry's head when Jenkins died. He thought of Jenkin's family, and what his own family would do if it was him that died. He was scared, and the worst part was he couldn't talk to anyone about it. He couldnt talk about it with the other soldiers because he didnt want to seem frightened. He couldn't write a letter to his family about it because he didnt want to scare them anymore than he already had by joining the army. In this quote especially, I felt bad for him. He obviously had a lot to talk about, but I felt bad that he had to keep it to himself.

"'She knows,' I thought. 'She knows who I am'" (Kidd 131).

In Chapter Seven of The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd, Lily is almost in a dreamworld at the home of August Boatwright, the famed beekeeper of South Carolina. Lily holds onto the feeble hope that the lie she claims to be her past will remain undisturbed. Yet as she sits beside August, a kindhearted colored woman, her haven of lies is shaken. Lily is startled to learn that some people can just know the truth by reading between the lines of falsehoods. August is one of those people. Lily, mystified and new to gentle love, comes to the staggering assumption that August Boatwright knows exactly who she is and all the bad things she has done.
There are some people in this world who hold a hidden loss inside their hearts. Lily is a motherless, lonely girl who has always lied to save herself from the truth - something that frightens her down to the core of her being. She does not want to know who she is or why she is alive when her mother is not. As many do, Lily makes a refuge inside her lonesome heart and lets it out through stories that make her laugh and cry. But people need others to share their laughs, sorrows, and secrets with them. She needs someone to speak openly to about the mother she lost. All in all, Lily needs August to know her, even though the thought scares her terribly.
Seldom have I met someone who can see right down to my soul, but when it happens, I see a message written in that person's eyes. The message reads: "I have known you for a long time. It's about time I tell you all about yourself." A beautiful Christian woman named Nina looked at me while introducing herself with those eyes that cut my hardened heart like a hot knife through butter. Whenever I see her, she speaks as if at that very moment, there is nothing more wonderful in the world than to sit there just talking with me. I believe this is how Lily feels about August, a woman who took her in and loved her although she feels unlovable.
I believe everyone finds their own 'miracle friend' even if in all their lives, the two speak to each other only once. Who knows, you could be the 'miracle friend' someone needs even in a long, boring movie ticket line. Finding sweet words is like sweeping up dust. There is so much of it, all we have to do is stir up joy until it surrounds us, lands on us, and moves with our every step.

"A girl, poor thing. That fact had already burdened her short life with a kind of misery I could not imagine. I thought I knew about every ugly thing

that one person does to another, but I had never even thought about such things being done to a baby girl. She sat quietly in the bathtub watching me, and I just prayed she had enough backbone not to fall over and drown, because I had to let her go. I doubled up on the floor at the base of the toilet and tried not to throw up" (Marietta/Taylor 31).

I read the book The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver. This book is not just about one specific thing, or place and the overall meaning of the book could not be shoved into one little quote. This quote was the one that sucked me in. This quote was the one that made the book impossible to put down and the one that brought the most emotion out of the words. Marietta, who just changed her name to Taylor, has had a baby that was placed in her possession. The reason she left her town, home, and mother behind is because she wanted to escape, and get away from the pressure of their way of life. Including having a baby.

The irony in this is interesting, not only was the thing she didn't want to happen put into her lap, but she is faced with trying to take care of herself and now a new baby girl with a busted car, and no place to live. She stops at a motel for the night to try to warm up the baby. As she is trying to give the baby a bath, the baby is gripping to her so tightly she can barely take one tiny hand off of her before it is replaced with another.

Finally, as she looks at the child, she sees that this baby girl has bruises on her inner thighs. The realization is immediate, and Taylor falls to the floor. This child's name is Turtle and she plays a part throughout the book, and she is an important character.

It is too true that people are terrible to each other, and this is just an example of the many horrible things that people are put through every day. Being put in this position, I wouldn't have been able to control myself. Pity for this child would overwhelm me, and i would've broken down crying. I reread this page so many times, and yet, i still can't picture myself being there. This book was composed of so many great quotes, but i could not get this one out of my head.

"Time folded in on itself then. What is left lies in clear yet disjointed pieces in my head. The gun shining like a toy in her hand, how he...

...snatched it away and waved it around. The gun on the floor. Bending to pick it up. The noise that exploded around us. This is what I know about myself. She was all I wanted. And I took her away" (Kidd 7).

At this point in the book, Lily really blamed herself for her mother's death. She had to live with deep guilt every day of her life. This guilt was put onto her shoulders for doing something that she didn't even mean to do. Lily truly believed that unlike her father, T. Ray, her mother cared for her and loved her with all of her heart. I felt bad for Lily because her mother was all she wanted in her troubled life, but she would never be able to have her again because of the heart wrenching accident she made at the young age of four.

Later in the book, T. Ray explained to Lily a different version of the story of her mother's death. In this, T. Ray tried to persuade Lily that her mother never really loved her and tried to leave them. This crushed Lily because she believed her mom was the only person who loved her, besides her caretaker Rosaleen, but that's just not the same as your mother. Lily later learned in the book that shooting her mother was an accident that she could never take back or fix. She learned that she'd just have to live with her mother's death, forgive herself, and let her life move on.

I believe that this quote shows how sometimes the best things you have in your life can be taken away from you at the blink of an eye. You should appreciate what you have when you have it because someday it won't be with you anymore. It may have been the only good thing you had in your life, but you will have to move on and make the best of life without it. It also shows to me that it may be hard to forgive others for their wrong doing, but it's even harder to forgive yourself. You just have to push the guilt aside and forgive yourself to enjoy life. This applies to the people of the world because accidents do happen and forgiveness must be made in order to completely move on with life.

"Although it wasn't really an argument, strictly speaking, I couldn't really disagree with Lou Ann. What Cynthia and the so-called Child Protectors

wanted to do was wrong. But I didn't know what was right. I just kept saying how this world was a terrible place to try and bring up a child in. And Lou Ann kept saying, For God's sake, what other world have we got?" (Greer 236).

Since this book was about so many different things, there wasn't any quotes to describe the entire book at once. So this one is about a very important character in the book, Turtle. Since Taylor didn't really adopt Turtle (she was just given to her), she has no official papers to prove that Taylor didn't kidnap her or something. Child services threatens to take her away and put her in a state home.

At first, Taylor thinks to herself, maybe it's the best thing for Turtle and maybe they could do better for her then she can. Then her friend, Lou Ann convinces her this is nonsense and no one could raise her any better than she can, especially not the state. Taylor changes her opinion and fights to keep Turtle.

Taylor has no information on the original parents or anything she doesn't even know where she can find them. I thought the same thing when I read this, the world is a terrible place to bring up a child in. No one should be able to take a child away from their mother or father, unless there is evidence that they have somehow hurt the child! I know that Taylor is not her real mother, but she has taken Turtle in as if she were her own and no one has any right to take that away from her. Is it really any better for a child to be put in a foster place rather than to just stay with their family at her home where she is loved and cared for? Imagine if you were poor Turtle, being taken away from your home when your a baby. But, I'm not going to tell you what happens because I don't want to give anything away.

I've never wanted to have a child of my own (when I'm older), because of how terrible the world is. This quote says to me, well sure the world is terrible and bad things happen all the time but it's the only world we've got and we have to live for the best and we cannot protect our children from the world.

What is your opinion of people immigrating from other countries to America?

So, in The Bean Trees, Taylor becomes very close to two illegal aliens, Estevan and Esperanza. The married couple had to flee from their homeland, Guatemala to America in order to survive and to avoid giving their government certain information about their friends. Mattie, a motherly figure to everyone, took them in and they live with her.

Before this book, I thought if you don't live in this country, what are you coming here illegally for? We have enough people already! If you want to come to the country than do it legally. The book helped me realize we are all humans and we are all the same, and that geographic borders mean nothing. They are there to divide the world up and make finding places easier, and they should not be there to seperate everyone because of their race or ethnicity.

During a breakdown, Taylor says, "I don't know where to start Lou Ann, there's just so much damn ugliness. Everywhere you look, some big guy kicking some little person when they're down-look what they do to those people at Mattie's. To hell with them, people say, let them die, it was their fault in the first place for being poor or whatever, how dare they come to this country" (Greer 229). It made me see how good of friends Estevan, Esperanza, and Taylor became regardless of where they all came from and at the end Taylor helps them and they help her more than anyones ever helped me.

I guess what I'm trying to say is I think that many of the laws are overrated. But, I guess they are also there to make us feel safe. Taylor says to Estevan, "You know what really gets me? How people call you 'illegals.' That just pisses me off, I don't know how you can stand it. A human being can be good or bad or right or wrong, maybe. But how can you say a person is illegal?" (Greer 261). Making it seem like all illegal immigrants are bad people, makes it easier for us to block them out of our country.

But this is just my opinion, I know we also keep people out to prevent new diseases from coming in and stuff, but what's your opinion on this whole situation? Also take into consideration that this book was written in the 1980's, so things may have been a little different back then, but then again the same.

What is the meaning of the title, The Bean Trees?

Hi everyone! I read The Bean Trees and I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a feel good book about the struggles and miracles of everyday life.

A young woman named Taylor Greer tries to avoid becoming pregnant her entire life, and ends up with a little girl whom is just given to her. She names the girl Turtle because of her clingyness. Turtle's first word is 'bean' and the young child becomes fascinated by plants, vegetables, flowers, and also bean trees. She becomes extremely close to the earth, paying attention to each and every insignificant detail, playing with dirt and burying her dolls and items hoping they will grow into bean trees.

It is also said in the novel that bean trees are also called Wisteria Vine and they grow in places with very little resources to help them survive. Which reminded me of Taylor, she found a home, friends, hope, and the ability to grow into a stronger woman in what seemed like an empty place. At one point she watches outside and thinks to herself, "There was a cactus with bushy arms and a coat of yellow spines as thick as fur. A bird had built her nest in it. In and out she flew among the horrible spiny branches, never once hesitating. You just couldn't imagine how she'd made a home in there" (Greer 166). This reminded me of Taylor finding a home in empty places. The bean trees also relied on a bug that provided nutrients for the plant, which reminded me of the world. We all have to rely on eachother to help get things done. Without eachother, what are we really?

When Ishmael joined the army, how did it impact him?

If Ishmael wasn't picked up by the army, I think his life would be very different. I think the army strengthened him. It made him understand who he is now, and he has grown into a strong human being because of it. While he was training for the army, the corporal kept saying to the boys, "Visualize the enemy, the rebels who killed your parents, your family, and those who are responsible for everything that has happened to you." (Corporal 112). This quote stuck in Ishmael's head throughout his army experience, and it convinced him that killing the rebels was okay, even though in the long run it wouldn't accomplish anything.

If Ishmael hadn't been in the army, I think he would be just as lost as he was in the army. Because he experienced the army, he reached who he really was as a person and he was able to move on from losing his family. Of course the loss of his family would always be emotional, but the army was a learning experience for him.

The army impacted Ishmael in several different ways. He went through many emotions and saw very terrible things. He had to grow up very fast and had to fight for himself. Joining the army gave him an excuse to get revenge, and basically he just experienced anger throughout the entire journey. But in the end, he certainly learned from what he did, and it helped him a lot in life.

Ishmael would sing to himself sometimes just to reassure himself that everything was going to be okay in the end. While he was in the hospital, he listened to Bob Marley's lyrics, "Don't worry about a thing, 'cause every little thing is gonna be all right". (Marley 173).

What advice would you give the main character? When and why?

My advice to the main character (Ishmael) would be to stay strong and have faith that things would all work out. When he was sent to the rehabilitation center it took him many months to finally have a change of heart.

If I had to give him advice it would be after he went through rehabilitation. I would tell him that he's doing good and that it's important to stay strong and never give up hope. Never give in and to stand his ground. I would tell him to never have the desire to kill the rebels. They will have their own punishment some way or another. It's not worth his time. They tried to ruin his life and they would continue to if he let them get to him.

Why I would give this advice to him after he went through rehabilitation would be because I wouldn't want him to go back to the way he was. I think the best time to talk to him would be after he has changed. I would want him to move on and continue to be the person he his now. If I had told him before he was in rehabilitation he probably wouldn't have listened to what I had said.

"Bees swarm before death."

Hi everyone! So I am not very far into the book, but so far I like it. In chapter one there was a quote that really stuck out in my mind for some reason, this quote is, "Bees swarm before death"(Rosaleen 2). Further into the paragraph Lily Owens, the main character, talks about how the bees are starting to swarm in her bedroom. She starts to think about if those bees are swarming for her death. She doesn't think death is such an awful thing, in fact she says that people who think that death is the worst thing, do not know a thing about life. When she was four years old her mother died, so now she thinks of death as just a fact of life, and it just doesn't bother her very much.

This quote really stuck out to me because that is not how I think at all. Death to me is the scariest thing ever. If I could, I would live forever. So to read something about how death is just a fact of life, scares me. I am one of those people who thinks death is one of the worst things, but I know a lot about life. So reading Lily say people like me don't know anything about life is a little frustrating.

Fellow bloggers, do you think the same about life and death as Lily Owens, or me? What is your take on the fact of life such as death?

Do you think that if Ishmael didn't go to a rehabilitation center he would still be a heartless murderer?

If Ishmael didn't go to a rehabilitation center I do think he would still be a heartless murderer. He began killing so many people that it no longer affected him. He killed people for pleasure to see them suffer. I don't think anything could have changed the way he lived, but the rehabilitation center.

When he was a boy soldier he killed many rebels and learned not to have pain from it. Later on he started killing innocent people. Staff members who were trying to help him and anyone who had been annoying, or had gotten in his way. People kept on telling him "It's not your fault." If finally started sinking in for him. Quotes from the book:

"None of these things are your fault." (Esther pg. 165)

"Even though I had heard that phrase from every staff member--and frankly I had always hated it--I began that day to believe it. It was the genuine tone in Esther's voice that made the phrase finally begin to sink into my mind and my heart." (Ishmael pg. 165)

I believe that if he wasn't sent to a place where they could help him, and talk to him (like Esther did); he would have still been the way he was. I believe that he would have still been a solider murdering more and more people.

A Long Way Gone

The title in the story "A Long Way Gone" refers to how far away Ishmael got from his home and his family. I think the title is perfect for this story. In this book, Ishmael was pushed farther and farther away from his home town, and he was forced to learn how to live on his own. Even though it was hard for him, he stayed very strong throughout everything he had to go through. A Long Way Gone is the basic summary of Ishmael's life. Not only does it show how far he has traveled, it shows how he has matured as a person, and everything he has achieved.

Ishmael started out as a young thirteen year old boy that was completely oblivious to what was about to happen to him and his family. As the story proceeded, he became older and his personality, maturity, and state of mind changed several times. His mind went from feeling secure to unstable, and back again. He never really felt safe in the end because of what the army had done to him. He was far off from what a normal teenager should experience at that age.

In the end, Ishmael was sixteen and he had seen many disturbing things. He learned some life lessons, and was strong enough to tell his story to the world. A Long Way Gone was what created Ishmael Beah. Some may look at it simply as a boy a long way gone, or maybe as a boy that has achieved and gained so much that he should be known as the boy is who now, a long way home.

"It is better to carry more ammunition than food and water. Because with more ammo, we will be able to find water and food...

but with more water and food, we will not make it to the end of the day." (Corporal pg. 116)

The quote in this story (A Long Way Gone) is about a boy who survived the rebels named Ishmael Beah. The rebels attacked many villages throughout the country in Sierra Leone. Ishmael had to constantly be on the run and try to avoid them. Later on he becomes a boy soldier for a Corporal who wants to kill off the rebels. If they wanted to live, they had to carry ammunition so they could kill. The soldiers couldn't worry about what they were going to eat because they had to constantly be ready to defend and shoot.

Later on Ishmael was sent to a Rehabilitation Center where his focus was no longer killing people. Not long after, he went to NYC to tell people his story.

This quote tells me that many areas around the world are tough. If I was in his situation I wonder if I would be able to switch into survival mode and kill another person. Would I be strong enough? Would I go out of control like Ishmael did? These are questions I wonder if I could do, if my situation was like his.