Unbroken

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

Louie Zamperini, son of Italian immigrants, starts out his life as a incorrigible kleptomaniac who seemed to always be looking for trouble. As he grows into his teenage years, he turns his energy and enthusiasm into running for the high school track team. There, he finds his passion for life and a natural ability that propels him into legend status in high school tract events. Soon, he has his eye set on the Berlin Olympics. As the youngest runner on the the IS 1936 Olympic team, Louie did an admirable job representing the US, but he and others were looking forward to the 1940 Olympics, when he would have a little more maturity and would no doubt he setting new records.

And then war came. Louie finds himself drafted and assigned to be a bombardier on a B-24 bomber stationed in the Pacific. In May of 1943, his bomber is shot down and only three of the crew survive. Even though they are fortunate enough to survive the crash, they are left to drift in the ocean on a couple of two-man rafts, surrounded by sharks, starving and dying of thirst for over 40 days. Somehow, they survive only to be rescued by the enemy. As the story unfolds, we learn about the absolute horror and depravity that the POWs, who were captured by the Japanese, had to endure.

This is a captivating story that involves you in the life of Louie and has you cheering and then crying and wondering how he is going to survive. Laura Hillenbrand does an excellent job bringing his story to life.