“All he could see, in every direction, was water.”-Laura Hillenbrand

Louis Zamperini was drifting in the middle of the Pacific Ocean with two of his surviving crew mates, watching sharks lazily circle their small rafts. Since Louis’s B-24 had crashed into the ocean on a rescue mission, with Louis nearly drowning and eight members of his crew perishing in the crash, they had been surviving off precious few birds and fish for nearly a month, and were straying ever closer to starvation… Louis and his crew had many years of hardship in the cruel and inhumane clutches of the Japanese Empire ahead of them. They were prisoners of war.

This incredible survival story of American Prisoners of War in Japan highlights the constant terror that the Japanese guards left them in physically, and more importantly, mentally. It also shows the endurance required to survive these camps

I recommend definitely recommend this book to 12-14 year olds because of its lifelong lesson to never give up, no matter the consequences, and because of its fabulous and heart melting ending.