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Ishmael’s first breakthrough springs from his nurse, Esther, who buys him a walkman and rap cassettes and became the closest thing to a friend as he confides in her his backstory on a battle which earned him his bullet scar on his right foot. Ishmael, hating “...the ‘It is not your fault’ line that all the staff members said every time anyone spoke about the war” (Beah 160) is only convinced into returning to therapy as he exchanges his memories for hours listening to his Bob Marley cassettes. Esther suggests him to begin writing lyrics like he used to in a notebook, but despite the contention he receives from his sessions, Ishmael still continues to suffer from migraines in times he tries to recall his childhood.

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Ishmael describes his new life as a child soldier, claiming that, “My squad was my family, my gun was my provider and protector, and my rule was to kill or to be killed” (Beah 126). In January of 1996, 15-year-old Ishmael and his friends are dismissed and taken towards Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, by UNICEF soldiers, where they were given beds with clean linens and food. Ishmael and his friends fight with a group of boy soldiers from the RUF, ending with 6 people killed until the MPs break up the fight and sends the boys to Benin Home, a rehab center.

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The boys are given live ammunition and guns for the first time, as well as white tablets to “boost their energy” before being sent to the forest to fight. Ishmael witnesses the death of his two friends, Musa and Josiah, and kills a man for the first time. “Every time I stopped shooting to change magazines and saw my two lifeless friends, I angrily pointed my gun into the swamp and killed more people” (Beah 119). Later that night, the drugs’ effect wears off causing his nightmare to return, resulting in his shooting rampage which the lieutenant and corporal intervened by splashing him with water and giving him more pills.

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Ishmael meets Gasemu, a banana farmer on their way to reunite with their families in this rumored village haven until they hear gunshots and people screaming. Ishmael runs into the engulfed village, unable to find his family’s bodies in their house and attacks Gasemu in blame for their late arrival. The boys start fighting amongst each other until they are interrupted by incoming rebel soldiers who boasts about their recent killings. Gunshots begin to fire again, causing the boys to escape deep into the forest with Gasemu who has had multiple gunshots. Ishmael “tried to imagine what it felt like for Gasemu when his fingers vibrated to let the last air out of his body” (Beah 99).

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Ishmael says goodbye to his friends and life in the Benin Home and moved  in to live with Tommy and his family. It’s hard for him since he isn't used to stability, happiness, and laughter all around. But it's something he is getting used to. One night he and his cousin Allie snuck out to a pub to go dancing. Ishmael meets and dances with a girl that later he dates, but breaks up due to her extensive interest in his past which he is not ready to tell. Leslie comes and offers him an opportunity to visit the United Nations in New York to talk about his story in the war. As he was ready for the interview, he was embarrassed since he didn't know what a elevator was. But proved to be worthy since he was in the war and “[he] has a better understanding based on [his] experience of the situation, than any of [those] city boys who are [there] for the interview” (Beah 187). He got his passport and Visa, and was ready to fly to New York.

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Ishmael is in a state of depression, he says “ I feel as if there is nothing left for me to be alive for… I have no family, it is just me. No one will be able to tell stories about my childhood” (Beah 167). Esther cheers him up and convinces him to recite a monologue when observers such as UN, UNICEF, and other NGO’s arrive to see the center. Ishmael was offered to be a spokesman and he talked about how it's possible for children to overcome what happened to them in the war if they have an opportunity. Later, Ishmael's depression is uplifted when Leslie, his case worker finds his uncle Tommy. Tommy visits and calls him his son, which made Ishmael hesitant but later realized the emotions were true. Tommy visited him during the weekends and they walked the same path talking about times before the war and memories. Tommy takes Ishmael home and greets him with his family where he starts to make real connections with.

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Ishmael and the other boy soldiers have trouble fitting in. They would act inappropriately by throwing bowls at the staff and burning the cook's hand. They refuse to sleep inside and throw their mattress outside for comfort. As the drugs wore off,  Ishmael “ craved cocaine and marijuana so badly [he] would roll a plain sheet of paper and smoke it” (Beah 139). One day he decided to break the glass to his classroom with his hands, which damaged his hand. He was treated by a nurse and told to come back the next day, but he didn't, until he woke up after fainting. Whilst there he remembers a  war memory where he and Altai slaughtered an entire camp by themselves and he was awarded the nickname “Green Snake” because he was sneaky and unnoticed. They also got school supplies and Ishmael, Mambu, and Alhaji sold them in order to take a bus to the city and explore. The staff later issued that they would be doing weekend trips but only if they attended class, which is the only reason they went. As months passed Ishmael finally slept but had nightmares, and again wakes up in the hospital.

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The daily life of being a soldier hits Ishmael. He does what all soldiers do: smoke marijuana, sniff cocaine mixed with gunpowder or brown brown, and taking more of the white capsules. In doing so, Ishmael was numb and couldn't sleep for weeks. At night they watched movies such as Rambo as an “inspiration”.They would raid rebel and civilian camps when they needed food, ammunition, drugs and gasoline. Ishmael and his friends cheer on the lieutenant when he slits  and tortures the rebels. The corporal then chooses Ishmael and some others for a contest of who can slit the throat the fastest. When “the corporal gave the signal with a pistol shot, [Ishmael] grabbed the man’s head and slit his throat in one fluid motion…. [he] was proclaimed the winner” (Beah 125). He became the junior lieutenant and celebrated by doing more drugs and watching movies all night.

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The boys are captured by soldiers who take them to the village of Yele, protected by the military. Ishmael has heart wrenching nightmares and intense migraines that keep him up at night. Later they got jobs like chopping the vegetables, and cleaning the dishes, which occupied their time. Until the rebels surrounded the camp, and the Lieutenant gave everybody a choice of staying and fighting or leaving the camp and dying. Ishmael obviously had no choice but to join, and the next day: they move closer to the soldiers barracks, got guns (blank), shoes, and clothing and began training. During this mishap, Ishmael's rap cassettes which he has carried throughout his journey gets put into the fire and he watches them melt away. Training only taught him one thing, “Visualize the enemy, the rebels who killed your parents, your family, and those who are responsible for everything that happened to you” (Beah 112)

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Ishmael had an unsettling journey: mentally, physically, and emotionally. Each time he faces death a little part of him dies. They travel village to village scavenging for food. “One morning [they] arrived at a village where the men were getting ready to hunt” (Beah 70). They were welcomed to a feast and roamed the village, where Ishmael laid in a hammock remembering his visits to his grandparents. When they left, a dog stole the dried meat that was given to them prior to departing. They spare the dog, but later regret it. As they travel they began to share their stories about what happened when the rebels attacked. Ishmael is shocked, but now knows why they were quiet. A crow fell from the sky and they decided to eat it, despite the “bad luck” which was transferred to Saidu. Saidu died when they got to the new village and Ishmael found out his family was in the nearby. Exactic as he was, Saidu’s funeral came first.

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Arriving in a village near the coast, Ishmael’s group is ambushed the villagers who, at the order of their chief, steals their shoes and chases them out forcing them to walk barefoot on the 120-degree sidewalk, with their “peeled flesh hung down and congealed blocks of blood and particles of sand clung to each hanging bit of skin” (Beah 61). For a while, they get treated and provided for by an unknown villager living in a secluded hut, but is later found out and tied up and taken to the chief once news came that the rebels were coming to attack. The chief discovers the cassette tapes found inside Ishmael’s pocket, and asks him to perform the song earning the chief’s impression that they were just children seeking for safety, not mercenaries.

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Ishmael walked days without sleeping and eating food. As he walked he passed villages with dead bodies everywhere which increased his pace. He found himself living in the trees of the forest. He tried to get out but after lots of walking and torment he “...came to accept that [he] was lost and it was going to take a while to get out…” (Beah 50). During his stay he ate unfamiliar fruits and encountered wild animals. He also tries to find medicine that his grandpa showed him a long time ago just in case his food was poisonous. Wild pigs charge at Ishamel, fortunately for him he found a tree he was able to mount in one jump. Later he encounters young people his age, which prior to war he already knew some of them. They traveled together, asking people for help but the rumors of the “seven boys” followed them.

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Kamator, the village Ishmael’s group was residing in, gets invaded in the middle of the night without warning as the rebels captured, tied the imam, and set him on fire, all the while causing the villagers to flee into the bush.  Ishmael and Kaloko hide with a family for two weeks before Ishmael decides to set out on his own to clear his head and wanders around for five straight days to abandoned villages. Along the way, Ishmael encounters a family swimming in the river and was answered with hostility, making him “...disappointed that the war had destroyed the enjoyment of the very experience of meeting people” (Beah 48).

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Being in a group limited them to stick to bushes rather than roam the villages. As they were walking, a group of men caught them and took them to their chief. The chief asked “are you rebels or spies” (Beah 38) and later he made his decision to “drown the rebels” (Beah 38). Searching their pockets they find the rap cassette in Ishmael's pocket. As Ishmael tried to convince them they aren’t rebels, a young man from their home village recognized them which allowed the chief to grant them freedom. As they left, a women tells group that Gibrilla’s aunt is in the village Kamator. Upon arriving, planting season was amidst, thereby they became farmers. However only 3 months passed until the rebels attacked. As Ishmael ran, it was his last time he saw his brother.

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Through instinct, Ishmael’s group assaults a young kid and steals his ear of corn in hunger. They return to Mattru Jong, only to be captured by the rebel soldiers at gunpoint as they witness an old man get taunted and tortured, negating social norms as they”... grew up in a culture that demanded good behavior from everyone, and especially from the young...to respect their elders and everyone in the community” (Beah 33). Ishmael’s group is forced to march to a riverbank to kill each other for their initiation, but manages to escape due to firing gunshots and went into the woods to hide in safety under dead trees.

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The group of 6 walk aimlessly for days, with silence and no food. They slept in abandoned homes and prayed for food. They were so starving that “...they had no choice but to sneak back into Matru Jong… to get some money… so that [they] could buy food” (Beah 27). In order to get into Matru Jong they had to cross a clearing of dead bodies. A aluminum pan fell out of one’s pocket during the clearing thus inviting the attention of the rebels. Luckily  for them shots were fired inside the camp which distracted the rebels and allowed everybody to run away. Although they now acquired money, village markets wouldn’t sell to them, which resulted in stealing food at night.

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Ishmael, his brother Junior, and his friends remaining in Mattru Jong are met with a messenger from Sumbaya, a town recently massacred by the rebels, with a UCF initials carved on his body by a hot bayonet. Five days after the villagers went into hiding, the rebels plotted a surprise attack, causing Ishmael and his friends to escape. Knowing that the risk of staying was greater as the initials branded to child soldiers, “...meant that you were scarred for life...that you could never escape from them...escaping from them...was asking for death, as soldiers would kill you without any questions and militant civilians would do the same” (Beah 24).

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Ishmael begins to have nightmares that haunt him all the way to his present life in New York. In one of his dreams he is pushing a rusty wheelbarrow where “...the breeze brings the faint cries of those whose last breaths are leaving their mangled bodies” (Beah 18). His shoes covered in blood, his back toasted by the warmth of his AK-47, and the look of the dead body, was all he ever saw. His memories that patronize him in New York, make him live 3 worlds: his dreams, experiences of his new life, and memories triggered from the past.

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Precedent to the attack, Ishmael describes that Sierra Leone had “...all kinds of stories told about the war..It wasn’t until refugees started passing through our town that we began to see that it was actually taking place in our country” (Beah 5). In January of 1993, 12-year-old Ishmael, his brother and a couple of friends travel to Mattru Jong to perform hip hop in a friend’s talent show. They learned from their friend, Khalilou, that their hometown, Mogbwemo, was attacked by the rebels and found no information from the fleeing refugees regarding the safety of Ishmael’s family.