Books I Read and Other Assorted Oddities

 This is another book that I read because of my AP class. I do have to admit that I enjoyed it more than I thought I was going to. The Boys in the Boat  tells the story of the 1936 U.S. Olympic rowing team. This team came from Washington State and was made up of a seemingly rag-tag group of boys. One boy in particular, Joe, came from very humble circumstances. Having been basically abandoned by his family multiple times in his childhood, Joe lacked confidence. By the time he got to the Olympics, his coaches had helped him succeed. I know next to nothing about rowing, but that was not a requirement to understand this book. Daniel James Brown does a great job of explaining the sport, and also introducing the mechanics of the boats themselves. I thought much of the background information he provided about boats and the legendary builder of them fascinating, but at times unnecessary. Joe's story is in many ways inspiring but also heartbreaking. Brown describes his childhood and how he

 I picked this up because I needed a quick read to get me back on track with my reading goal. It did not have that effect for me. This book (because it's the young reader's edition) is appropriate for about 2nd to 4th grade. While I think it does a fantastic job at what it's trying to accomplish, I would like to get the full version and reread it. This book has been made into a film, and I think its message is excellent. Hidden Figures  follows the story of several African-American women trying to break into the field of aeronautics during and just after World War II. These women started as "computers" which meant that they were checking the math of the predominately white male engineers in other departments. These women were brilliant in their own right, and amazing mathematicians. Eventually, their skills could not be ignored, and many of them were promoted to other departments, and breaking racial barriers that had existed for a century. Based on the intended a

I first read The Hiding Place  in my 8th grade honors English class. It was a book that I found fascinating and enjoyed at the time. As I was again trying to find books to include in my AP class, this is one that I thought of. I read through it a second time.  Corrie ten Boom was a devout Christian, raised in Denmark. She lived with her father and sister, Betsy, in their clock repair shop in a small Dutch town. As World War II broke out and the Germans invaded, the ten Booms were suddenly very aware of their Jewish neighbors. Corrie and her family begin helping the Dutch underground, helping take in Jews for short periods and hiding them in their home. Eventually, the ten Booms were caught, and Corrie was sent to Ravensbruck. This is a story of survival, faith, and doing what's right. This book is a memoir, with Corrie ten Boom telling the story of her experiences during World War II. The story itself is well-written, and the pacing of the story kept my attention. It was a relative