One Community, One Book
A Community Reading Project
September - November 2008
One Community-One Book: All Johnson County Reads is a community-wide reading project that annually runs from the middle of September through the middle of November. The book is selected by a committee and announced in the Spring preceding the reading project.
As part of the 2008 project, every adult and adolescent in Johnson County is invited to read and discuss Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah.
At the age of 12, Ishmael Beah fled attacking rebels in his home country of Sierra Leone during their civil war. Soon he found himself in the army, forced to participate in casual mass slaughter.
This horrific life lasted until he was 15, when he was brought to a rehabilitation center sponsored by UNICEF and partnering NGOs. In his late teens, he eventually came to the United States where he remains.
Mr. Beah finished high school in the U.S. and earned a bachelor's degree in political science from Oberlin College. He is now a member of the Human Rights Watch Children's Rights Division Advisory Committee. He has established a foundation dedicated to helping former child soldiers reintegrate into society and improve their lives.
