Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

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.