Unbroken

Unbroken, a biography by Laura Hillenbrand, is about the life story of Louie Zamperini, an Italian American from Torrance, California. Beginning with his childhood, he was a troublemaker. A boy who was a thief and a public nuisance, until his big brother, Pete, takes it upon himself to steer Louie in another direction. Eventually, he settled on running. that would keep him out of trouble. Louie had amazing skill and with Pete’s coaching, began winning race after race. By a stroke of luck, Louie was able to make the Olympic trials by switching his distance and competing in an open competition. With fierce determination, he earned his right to compete in the Berlin Summer Olympics of 1936.  Although Louie had a strong possibility for a medal in the next Summer Olympics, unfortunately, they were cancelled due to the economic hardship of the host
country. Louie soon after signed up for military service as a member of the Air Corps in 1941. Louie’s air crew was full of talent and accuracy, having an incredibly successful first mission on Wake Atoll. One day Louie, his pilot, and good friend Phil, along with a few new men had to take a different plane on a rescue mission because their previous plane was damaged during the battle of Nauru. Unfortunately, this plane “wasn’t airworthy” and crashed into the Pacific Ocean. For forty-six days, Louie barely survived on a raft and is soon found and captured by Japanese soldiers. This book was amazing and very inspirational. I highly recommend this book!