The Power of One Bryce Courtenay 1989

This book so far has been marvelous. It involves a young English boy who lives in Africa in the time of Adolf Hitler. From the get go it is spectacular, revolving on magic and intelligence as Peekay endures the torments of the older, Nazi Africans in his school as they torture him with pain and embarrassment. The discrimination is continued as Peekay's friend, an elderly German named Doc, is arrested merely for being German. Peekay was made to shout obscenities to himself, had rocks thrown at him, made to hold an iron bar for hours at a time which if he dropped he would be beaten. Even the teachers disliked him. One woman was so upset when he realized that she was smart she hit him with a ruler until his ear bled.
His only friend was a chicken named Granpa Chook, who was a gift from the greatest medicine man in all of Africa. The chicken seemed to be magical too, and Peekay called him "the toughest damn chicken alive." He was faithful all the way up until the last day of school, when he managed to poop inside the leader of the Nazi's mouth, and they killed him for it.
Similarly prejudice, the English Millitary arrested Doc for being a German spy, and during the relitivly harmless arrest, violence broke out and the policeman broke Peekay's jaw. The papers reported untruthful accounts of the story, saying that the pioctures Doc took as a Professor were some kind of intellegence for Germany and that he had tried to run for it, hurting Peekay in the process.

#13 Three Cups of Tea

I am finally finished with my book!!!! It has taken forever, I know. Some parts were very slow, while others made your heart race, or even cry. Despite the difficulty of getting though it, it was worth the read. It is amazing how much these people have gone through, and how one man's dedication made so much of a difference. Not many people care that only a third of the money promised to help Pakistan after the war made it there. They don't seem to worry about how the teachers need that type of money. They don't know about the five thousand girls trying to hold school in a feild next to the boy's high school.
Greg Mortenson risked his life to provide for these people when he had nothing. And think of us, who have everything. Mortenson is a real hero; a person who does not help others for the money or the glory. He does it only to help the people he has grown to love and give them a better chance at life. He has made over fifty-five schools and impoved chances for all the children, both boys and girls. In life, we have rare opportunintes to change someones life. Mortenson has taken the opportunity given to him and made it into his life. We need more people like him in this world.

#12 Three Cups of Tea

Towards the end of my book, Mortenson describes being in Pakistan on September eleventh, the year the towers came down. He had some difficulty getting details, but evetnually learned what had happened. He attended a big meeting that consisted of Muslims. He listened as they begged forgivness and gave him dozens of eggs to take back to the United States in order to express how sorry they were for their country to have done such a thing.
They were much more hospitable to him than the U.S. authorites were when he tried to return to the country. He was interogated about being a terrorist, and even knowing where Osama Bin Laden was located. Eventually they had to let him go, however, and he went back about his business in Pakistan. When he returned to the States he was given hate mail, one of which stating that the person wished a bomb had fallen on him, another saying that God would punish him for being a traitor and helping the Muslims.
This unsettled me. As a child, I did not like the countries who hurt us either. But my mother told me right away that we must not be angry at the ordinary citizens, because they were just like us. Even as a child I could understand this. It confused me that grown men and women believed helping refugees was wrong simply because of their background. I have heard stories like this before, such as after 9/11, three Muslim men (all U.S. citizens) were convicted for questioning, merely for talking about the attacks. It is scary how fast we are quick to judge, and frightens me. What if, one day, someone discriminates me and my ethnicity as we have done to others?

#11 Three Cups of Tea

While in Pakistan, Mortenson went deep into the mountains, looking for places in need of a school. However, this was very dangerous business, and it was proved to be so in every sense. The first night in foreign territory, Mortenson was kidnapped. He was put in a small room with a mat and was only let out to use the bathroom. The only thing he had to pass the time was an old Times magazine, which featured a hostage crisis, in which they were detained for more than a year. Needless to say this did not make Mortenson any calmer. He stayed in the room for days until a translator was brought, and after eight days, Mortenson was released, able to go home to his wife and see their child be born.
Not long after his daughter's birth, he was called by Jean Hoerni, his patron, asking if the school was finished yet. Jean was diagnosed with a deadly form of leukemia, and wanted to see a picture of it before he died. All too soon, Mortenson went back for the picture of the final product, and brought it back for Hoerni.
First, I would have never gone back to Pakistan after I was kidnapped. Mortenson is a very brave and dedicated man. He was just as proud as Hoerni, who upon recieving the picture, demanded that it be hung up despite hospital regulations, and called up his lifelong friend to boast on his deathbed.

#10 Three Cups of Tea

First off, I would like to apologize for how long it is taking me to finish this book. I am not as interested in it as some of the others, and it is going much slower than I would like. However I am now more than two thirds through, and plan to push to get through the rest of it.

As Greg Mortenson finished up his first school, several mafia-type men came to put a stop to it, claiming that it was un-Islamic and immoral to allow this American to infiltrate so easily. The leader of Korphe Haji Ali stayed calm and quietly bartered with the men until they had finally settled on the price of twelve of the village's largest rams. Mortenson explains that goats were very dear to the people, like "a firstborn child, prize cow, and family pet all rolled into one." They were so dear that the boys who cared for them cried as they handed them over. The decision wasn't even contemplated. Haji Ali readily agreed to the terms without even trying to lower the price. This village gave up their dearest possessions and companions to pay their way for this school. I could not help but think of all the teenagers in America who drop out daily because they could no longer be bothered with going. We take what we are given freely for granted. These children are giving up so much for a lot less than what we have here. It's not fair to them.