Ch 17&18, a Long Way Gone

Chapters 17 and 18 were definitely nicer to read than the previous couple of chapters! In chapter 17, I was so happy that Ishmael found Ester and began to open up and share his stories and thoughts with her. Ester seems to be an amazing person because of how she is able to sit through those stories and still not judge Ishmael or anything he did. It's nice in the story how we hear about these boys being robbed of their childhoods, but then Ishmael gets pieces of that childhood back. Ester gives him the walkman and rap cassettes, he and Mohamed get reunited, and his uncle tells him that he has time to be troublesome again. I LOVE ISHMAEL'S UNCLE! Sorry about that, but it's true! His uncle is so kind and understanding, and I love how he calls Ishmael son right away. I feel like this proves to Ishmael that people do care and I think that it reallly helps him. I want to know if Ishmael will ever see Alhaji, Ester, or Mambu again after they get sent off to live with their families. They have such a close relationship, it would be really upsetting if they had to day a final goodbye. Also in these chapters, the nightmares and flashbacks that Ishmael has are once again really graphic and seem worse than real life! I couldn't imagine not being able to have those nice hours at night where your mind can be free. I hope that the nightmares fade as he gets older, because that would be so tough to live with. Overall, I really liked these two chapters and I want to finish this book!