Two inspiring books for high school boys

Recently I gave a copy of Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story to a talented African-American 9th grader I know. His mom reported back that he read the book, took it to show his teacher, wrote a report on it, and now wants to be a surgeon like Ben Carson. Carson's story is fascinating. I am always interested in stories of people who come from poor families, from minority or immigrant groups, with uneducated parents, and go on to achieve prominence. In Carson's case, he was African-American, his mother worked as a maid, and he was doing badly in elementary school. Although his mother was not educated, she was smart. She figured out what was going wrong for her sons, and then laid down the law. She made them stop watching TV, read two books a week, and write book reports. Information Ben learned from one of his books was enough to impress a teacher, and as he says, "It was at that moment that I realized I wasn't stupid." He went on to become Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at Johns Hopkins; his brother became an engineer. Anyone who reads this book will realize it's possible to get from where you are to where you want to be.

Another amazing life story is A Sense of Where You Are: Bill Bradley at Princeton by John McPhee, and although Bill Bradley came from a privileged background (his father was a bank president in the Midwest) he surpassed what might have been expected of a well-off boy from a small town by sheer diligence and determination. His motto was "When you are not practicing, remember someone somewhere is practicing; and when you meet them, they will win." The author began writing the book as a profile for the "New Yorker" magazine while Bradley was still in college, BEFORE Bradley's days as a Rhodes Scholar, NBA athlete, or U.S.Senator. Bradley was an athlete who still has numerous mentions in the record books, for example, he still has the record for the 2nd highest number of points scored in a college game, and he played that game in 1965. To see more records he set, search here. His record for achievement, modesty, and sheer hard work is unsurpassed.