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A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
Starbucks Entertainment (which works with William Morris Agency in LA to distribute music, film, and book projects) announced last month that it will be selling the much anticipated book, a true story entitled "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah (published by Douglas & McIntyre in Canada) in all 6,000 of its locations across the U.S. The book, which will be out in mid-February, is a riveting story of civial war and survival written by Beah who was a former child soldier in Sierra Leone.
After the tremendous success of Mitch Albom's "For One More Day", which sold over 100,000 copies at Starbucks locations across the U.S, Beah's first book is expected to be an international best seller with a scheduled appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show after the book's release.
According to UNICEF statistics, 300,000 children under 18 are serving as regular soldiers, guerrilla fighters, porters, spies, sexual slaves, and even suicide commandos, in conflicts currently under way in over 50 nations. At the age of 12 Beah was separated from his parents and was taken in by Sierra Leone Military Forces who trained him and other refugee children to fight and kill in return for food and shelter. They were forced to use guns and sent out into the front lines where the children witnessed and took part in unimaginable and violent acts. Sadly, child soldiers are often encouraged to drink alcohol and take drugs so as to keep them 'high' all the time so that they won't think about what they are doing. Fortunately however, Beah was rescued by UNICEF workers at age 14 and was able to move to the U.S in 1997 with the help of Laura Simms (a woman Beah had met at a peace conference) who took him in as her son. Beah graduated from Oberlin College in 2004 and is a member of the "Human Rights Watch Children's Division Advisory Committee". He has spoken before the United Nations on several occasions and currently resides in New York City.
Beah's memoir, which already features blurbs from "A Perfect Storm" writer Sebastian Junger and Pulitzer Prize winner Steve Coll of "Ghost Wars", will be backed by an author tour at Starbucks stores in 10 cities; Starbucks also plans to donate $2 from each sale of the $22 book, to UNICEF, with a minimum donation of $100,000.
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Douglas & McIntyre is the Canadian publisher of A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah.
Beah will be in Vancouver on March 29. Here's the info:
ISHMAEL BEAH is in conversation with Hal Wake at Talk of the Town, John Oliver Secondary School, 530 East 41st Avenue, Vancouver on Thursday, March 29 at 7:00 p.m. For ticket information contact info.talkofthetown@ubc.ca or phone 604-827-3491.
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Posted by ethnic coolFebruary 3, 2007 at 9:10 PM
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