Journal Six by Chad Devore

     If I had to choose a character other than Ishmael that is meaningful to me, it would definitely have to be Saidu. I say him for a few reasons. For one, I believe that his death made the characters a bit more careful and grateful for their "sanctuary", if that makes sense. This is because they were all sitting there, wondering if death will come upon another one of them. Perhaps this has left a bigger impact on Ishmael mainly because I personally don't recall him experiencing death with someone somewhat close to him. There was the person in Chapter Two, but he didn't know him. That's just my opinion.
     As for Ishmael's rehabilitation, I feel as it may never come back to the way it was before the war struck. His innocence is permanently gone, sadly, and it really is NOT his fault (despite him hating to hear that). However, I feel as if he might become close to the person he was before, but still has the flashbacks and war memories from before. He isn't a dangerous person, but was temporarily brainwashed to the point of long-term damage. Because of this, I personally wouldn't have a problem with him living in my neighborhood. That is, unless he was from the opposite side.
     I guess the best thing to remember from this book is, sometimes life can drastically change for the better, and sometimes for the worse. It can happen in just the blink of an eye, as Ishmael went from being an innocent child with the love of rap music to a numb, war veteran in just a few years. Though, it was almost instantaneous, his morphing. This is evident when he gets the flashbacks from regular sounds and compares it to the war. He knows he won't be the same.
     So, if there is something I wanted to know about, I really want to know what happened to Ishmael in his adult life, and where he is now, not to mention where his family is and what happened to them. What about the other five boys that were with him? What about the friends that went with him to Mattru Jong? Where did they go? Also, what happened to the RUF? Well, the RUF actually became a political party and existed until 2007. So that's what has happened. As for his parents, I probably will never know.

This is the RUF flag for the Sierra Leone rebels.