The Plight of the Boy Soldier

Although Ishmael tried to fit in as an average high school boy in New York City, his friends knew that he was holding something back. In fact, he had a very traumatic past. When he was 10 years old he started seeing the remnants of war as travelers came through his village. He noticed that the children jumped at sounds and everyone was terrified. When he was 12, he experienced war firsthand when his village was destroyed while he was away for a couple of days. He lost his family that day, and when the rebel soldiers came after him and his friends, he had to escape.

Ishmael witnessed numerous grotesque deaths and experienced isolation and starvation as he tried to get away from the rebel soldiers. At one point, he and his friends were brought to a camp where they were trained to become...