cover image Nine Lives: Making the Impossible Possible

Nine Lives: Making the Impossible Possible

Peter Braaksma. World Changing, $16.95 (279pp) ISBN 978-1-906523-26-8

With sterling intentions and decent material, editor and global journalist Braaksma presents an occasionally inspiring account of individuals who have met extreme challenges head-on, and used those challenges as motivation to make the world better. The opening pieces concern Israeli Rami Elhanan, whose 14-year-old daughter was killed by a suicide bomber in 1979, and Bassam Aaramin, a Palestinian whose daughter was shot by border police. The two have overcome sorrow and deep culture biases to become close friends, a cogent lesson but the most clear-cut and least agenda-driven of the lot. Many of the other stories are heavy-handed and occasionally confusing. Unfortunately, the invigorating, focused stories-like that of a South African girl affected by cerebral palsy-are the exception to the rule.