"Unbroken"

Okay, so I am not exactly a history buff...Whenever I think of World War 2 my mind immediately jumps to Germans. I don't know that I've ever really made the connection that we were fighting the Germans and the Japanese at the same time. I know I learned it all in my History classes, but I must have focused more on Germany than Japan I guess. Well the book "Unbroken", by Laura Hillenbrand, definitely reminded me of what our country went through during our war against Japan.

Hillenbrand tells the story of Louis Zamperini - a little hellion who eventually channels his excess energy into running as a young adult and later makes it to the Berlin Olympics before becoming an airman in the U.S. Army. Zamperini and his crew seem invincible; returning alive from missions running on fumes or with a plane riddled with bullet holes. Invincible, until the day they do go down and their crew is downsized to just three survivors floating in a raft with no food and minimal water. And yet somehow they manage to stay alive during their 47 day float before finding land. The part I cant really wrap my head around is the idea of having sharks swimming around you 24/7 just waiting for you to get in the water, rubbing their backs along the bottom of the raft just to let you know they are still there...that right there would be enough to send  my sanity out the window. And that's only the beginning of the horrible trials that these boys had to go through!

The author does a wonderful job depicting this inspirational story. The way she writes is almost cinematic, like you are watching a movie of what you are reading in your head. It's very attention grabbing and will suck you in from the very first page to the last. It is a story that kids younger than high school age may not be prepared to read, but anyone that age or older will most likely enjoy this book. It's definitely the kind of inspiring story that you will remember for the rest of your life, and will remind you to be grateful for the life you have. Because no matter how bad your life may seem, it's no where near as bad as what the boys in this book had to go through. I give this book my seal of approval and recommend that you find the time to read it. It will probably take a week or two to get through (depending on how much time you have), but it is worth it. So enjoy, and don't forget to let me know what you think!