Unbroken (The Young Adult Adaptation): An Olympian's Journey from Airman to Castaway to Captive Kindle Edition

This book is amazing. I had previously read the full adult version and I was afraid that the "young readers' version" would skimp on the details. I read this book to my 9 year-old son and 12 year-old daughter. They could not wait until bedtime each night to hear more of Louis Zamperini's amazing story.It has a great message about the power of forgiveness and faith in Jesus Christ.

My ten-year-old reads well above grade level, but is still reluctant. Like many boys, he just doesn't want to sit still long enough to get through a story! He likes adventure stories, so I thought he would enjoy listening to the audio version of "Unbroken," while following along in the book. No dice. I lost him at the word "dirigible."So I was delighted to learn that a young adult version was on the horizon, and I immediately pre-ordered both the Kindle and audio versions. I am pleased to report that I think this will do the trick.Of course, the first thing I did upon receiving the new version, was to turn to Chapter One to see if the word "dirigible" had been changed! It is now "airship." Then I went back to the beginning and did a side-by-side comparison of both. The changes were immediately apparent:On the first page, the previous version read: Somewhere on the endless expanse of the Pacific Ocean, Army Air Forces bombardier and Olympic runner Louie Zamperini lay across a small raft, drifting westward.The new version read: Somewhere on the Pacific Ocean, American military airman and Olympic runner Louie Zamperini lay on a small raft, drifting.In a nutshell, Hillenbrand deleted "the endless expanse of," and simplified Zamperini's title from "Army Air Forces bombardier," to "American military airman."Looking randomly through the two books, I'm seeing other instances of abridgement, as well as simplified language. I have high hopes that my young reader will now enjoy this story. I'm excited at the prospect, as I think our children need to read more stories about people like Mr. Zamperini. He is easily the bravest, most remarkable person I've ever read about, and a fine example of what we hope our young people will choose to emulate.A final thought: I'm an avid reader, but I wish this version had been out when I read the original. While still long, it is shorter than the first book, and I wouldn't consider this one to be at all "dumbed down." It would not be inappropriate for an adult to read this version instead of the other.

As a middle school librarian, I wanted to share this unbelievable, inspirational tale, but the more graphic & violent scenes in the adult version were disturbing and overwhelming.Laura Hillenbrand has taken out some of those more graphically violent parts of her adult version, but still communicated the depravity and inhumane treatment of Allied POW's by the Japanese. Unlike the Nazis, the Japanese were never brought to trial for crimes against humanity, and continue to teach revisionist history to the generations since.

Excellent story. Very disappointed that the "F" word had to be put in the young adult version. I purposely bought the young adult version for my 12 year old daughter to read hoping it would be a clean version. The word was only used once and could have been avoided all together. Other than that the book was excellent.

My teenagers needed a non-fiction book to read for school. I read it as well. All 3 of us enjoyed this book. Louis Zamperini had some serious odds to overcome. It's inspiring, sad, intense, everything you'd want to read in a book. It was the perfect choice for my high schoolers to get their grade and also some motivation to overcome challenges in their life. It promoted some good discussions at home - any good book that can get a teenager talking to their parents is great!

If one wants to understand the Greatest Generation, what they accomplished, and what they endured, this book provides insight as to why they became known as the Greatest Generation. Here is an example of complete, unrelenting dedication to his country, ready to make any sacrifice to save his country, and almost paid the ultimate price in doing so. This book is a revelation when it comes to showing what a prisoner of war experienced and the horrific treatment by the captors. It is also a revelation about resilience, forgiveness, and restoration of a life. Louie Zamperini is an inspiration, and he made this book well worth reading.

This is unlike any book I have ever read. I got it to read to my husband who is in a nursing home. The story is great, but we both cried many times. Louie was an American hero, who lived thru the worst anyone could imagine. But he fought it all and lived to spite his captors.It is beyond me to understand how Louie forgave his captors, but it is a lesson we could follow.God Rest Louie , may he rest in peace.

From Wikipedia:"Unbroken is a biography of World War II hero Louis Zamperini, a former Olympic track star who survived a plane crash in the Pacific theater, spent 47 days drifting on a raft, and then survived more than two and a half years as a prisoner of war (POW) in three brutal Japanese POW camps."From me:Laura Hillenbrand has a raconteur's eye for history. Both of her books, Seabiscuit and Unbroken, are page turning thrillers about real life history. Unbroken is a wonderful biography of an everyman who not only rose to distinction athletically, but more significantly, rose to distinction as a human being, showing mature perspective and forgiveness of his Japanese sadistic torturers while he was a POW during WWII. This is a wonderful read.

I bought this book as I had head so many good things about it. I found it to be an interesting book, but for me I didn't feel it flowed. It felt like an intense read, and hard work to get to the end.Having said that though it is a fascinating story. This is marketed as a young adult book but I don't think it is that well suited.On the positive side I did not abandon the book and did read it to the end. I would like to see the movie.

My almost 13 year old son loved this book from cover to cover and read it during lockdown over the past few weeks. As a relucant reader of late, it was a relief to find a book that captured his imagination! He now wants me to buy books of a similar genre. Highly recommend this youth adaptation for 12 plus age group.

This is the true story of an American Airman captured by the Japanese and the terrible torture he suffered in their WW2 prison camps. Amazing what the human body can endure. Sad and captivating.

Very nice book. My teenager boy is loving that.

A very good book that arrived in great condition. Totally recommend.