Perfect Book about OBAMA is Good for Teens

It’s not a textbook. It’s not a list of random facts. “Barack Obama: An American Story,” by Bob Carlton and Ariele Gentiles, goes beyond facts and cut-and-dried information to give you an inside look at our newest president. The book documents Obama’s life from his early childhood to his historic presidential election. Despite the amount of information, Carlton and Gentiles made a point to connect their writing to teenagers. They got the job done. Not only is the book very informative, it is easy for teenagers to read and understand. With information presented in a factual and fun way, it makes learning about our 44th president much easier than any other book about him on the shelves today. Though it is a book of facts, reading it will feel like reading an account of his daily life, in condensed form. It shows Obama’s ups and downs in a factual, yet storylike way. It also is quite personal. Unlike other stories about presidents, it goes through events in Obama’s life and ties his work as a senator to his childhood. By doing this, it makes his story even more inspirational. However, the book does not always present a positive look at his life. It is brutally honest at times, going beyond the cut-and-dried statements presented about Obama’s life in the media. It shows his life without his father present while being raised by his single mother and brings readers through every obstacle he faced until he became the president-elect. “Barack Obama: An American Story” is more than a biography. It engages teens in politics and prepares them to see their future president as more than just another man. Teens can see his leadership in this book and feel connected to him as an inspirational man, not just another president to be added to a textbook. Although parts of the book are not easy to agree with, the book presents no political biases, making it a lot more reliable than other biographies. It crosses party lines to address all aspects of Obama’s life in a very informative and reliable way. Though certain choices by Obama presented in this book are questionable, you can still walk away from this book feeling fully informed. Teens who want to understand Obama’s life should read “Barack Obama: An American Story.” It takes learning about our newest president beyond random facts. This book is as close to reading a personal diary as you can get. With no aspects of our future president’s life spared, and in a easy-to-read context, picking up this book and remaining informed and interested is as easy as turning the pages.

taken from : Lauren Acton is a junior at Lutheran High School.