Skip to main content

Teen SRC 2020 – Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood by Trevor Noah

Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood

Trevor was born from a white Swiss father and a black Xhosa mother at a time where that could be punishable by law for five years in prison. As he was living evidence of his parents “crime”, he was kept indoors most of his childhood. His mother hid him as well as she could as the government could take him away at any time. Finally when that era ended, did Trevor and his mother able to live freely. And it was then that he had to set foot into the ocean of possibility only made possible have a long struggle. The book takes you through a journey about a imp child who turns into a man in a environment where he wasn’t suppose to even exist. He is accompanied by his fearless, passionately religious mother, who is determined to keep her son safe from the cycle of poverty, cruelty, and brutality of the world.

This book was so beautiful and humorous. I have watched his shows before with my family online and its focused on race, police brutality, prejudice, hate speech, and many other important topics that needs to be discussed. He really brought the book to life and the audio book was even better. There is so much dark humor in there and he manages to talk about those topics that usually makes us feel uneasy. And I have to say, I love his mother. She is hilarious as well, strong minded, and basically amazing. She taught him many important lessons and guided him gently along the way through his dark and daunting life.

Read More

Teen SRC 2018- Alan Turing: The Enigma: The Book That Inspired the Film The Imitation Game by Andrew Hodges

The official book behind the film, The Imitation Game, this is a dramatic portrayal of the life and work of Alan Turing, one of Britain’s most extraordinary unsung heroes, and one of the world’s greatest innovators.
This is the official story that has inspired the British film, The Imitation Game, a nail-biting race against time following Alan Turing, the pioneer of modern-day computing and credited with cracking the German Enigma code, and his brilliant team at Britain’s top-secret code-breaking centre, Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II. Turing, whose contributions and genius significantly shortened the war, saving thousands of lives, was the eventual victim of an unenlightened British establishment, but his work and legacy live on.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown released a statement of apology in 2009 on behalf of the British government for the “appalling” treatment of Turing for being part of the LGBTQ+ community.

This book may seem boring to many teenagers (there is a lot of pages), and I know it is not the usual fictional love/fantasy stories most girls/guys seem to gravitate towards during summer, but I promise you that this is the most hard-hitting, and beautiful book I have ever picked up. Alan Turing is a historical icon, and this book just made me know the man behind the machine.  This book is completely non-fiction but written in a way a character would be. I actually grew really close to Alan’s personality and felt his pain. This book is totally underrated, and I hope more people get the honour of reading his biography and see him in a different light.

Teen Review – Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Some of you might be able to recognize this person instantly. (Either that, or you’ve read the title). He is Steve Jobs, inventor and creator. His path is not like those of other company founders, but, personally, I think Steve Jobs has the most inspirational story of all time.

Adopted at birth, Jobs ended up being fascinated with electronics like his adoptive father. After his schooling years, he and another Steve also interested in electronics, invented the Apple I, signalling the birth of Apple.

This book shows that, even if you don’t have a very famous background, you still can achieve something great in life, something that will be used by others for years to come.