"This time we were a long way from mattru Jong. A long way one." Ishmael writes this as the villagers capture him and his friends for the second time as he worries what will happen to them pg65.

For Ishmael, less and less is familiar. The villagers have different customs and wear different attire. Ishmael feels foreign in these villages and of course children are always suspect of being RUF soldiers. This feeling of unfamiliarity and insecurity of a child is central to the themes and title of the novel.