Heroes Among Us

Title; Heroes Among Us

Author; John Quinones

Page Count; 272

Why I read it; I like John Quinones show called What Would You Do

Grade; C-

Synopsis;

   Heroes Among Us reminds us all of the courage and dignity it takes to stand up for oneself and those around us. By chronicling such bravery, John Quinones captures America's can-do spirit and shows that through the slightest good deed, each one of us harbors a hero within.

My Review;

     I really liked the idea of this book and was super excited to read it because I love the show John Quinones has on TV called -what would you do- 

Unfortunately most of the stories in this book I found hard to relate to and therefor not as exciting or inspiring as I hoped. A lot of the stories were about Hispanic families living in very poor areas who felt that every white person with money hated them and would "chase them out of the rich neighborhoods unless they were pushing a lawnmower" (that's not an exact quote but he said something just like that in the book.). I lived in what I would consider a middle class neighborhood next to white people, Hispanic people and African American people, so to me people are just people. Not that racism doesn't exist because I know it does it just doesn't seem like something I would emphasize in a book trying to highlight average people acting in heroic ways. Also a lot of the stories contained way too much detail about history that just went on and on and on before he finally got around to the story. There were some stories that were really fun to read and made me want to be better and do better but it was just a small portion of the book. I am glad I read it I needed a break from YA, but I wasn't sad to be finished so overall an ok book to read but not one I would put at the top of my to read list and not one I would buy.

Quotes I liked;

" A mother is not a person to lean on but a person to make leaning unnecessary." -Dorothy Canfield Fisher

" You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.... You must do the thing you think you cannot do." -Eleanor Roosevelt 

" You have not lived until you have done something for someone who can never repay you." -Anonymous

" The world is a dangerous place, not because of those who do evil, but because of those who look and do nothing." -Albert Einstein 

" Values are like fingerprints. Nobody's are the same, but you leave 'em  all over everything you do." -Elvis Presley

"Adversity introduces a man to himself." -Anonymous