Laura Hillenbrand

On a May afternoon in 1943, an American military plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. From the debris, a young lieutenant named Louis Zamperini surfaced, pulling himself onto a tiny life raft and beginning one of the most extraordinary survival epics of the Second World War. Before the war, Zamperini was a clever delinquent who channeled his defiance into a supreme talent for running, eventually carrying him all the way to the Berlin Olympics. But as an airman, his journey led to a doomed flight and a drift into the terrifying unknown. Ahead of him lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a sinking raft, starvation, and enemy aircraft. Driven to the absolute limits of human endurance, he responded to desperation with ingenuity, suffering with hope, and brutality with rebellion. This breathless true story captures a breathtaking odyssey that tests the fraying wire of human will, offering young adult readers a powerful testament to the strength of the human spirit and the ability to endure against the unlikeliest of odds.