An absolutely indispensible piece of geographical scholarship. Very highly recommended.

Although the book's idea of overcoming racism and disability was fabulous and inspirational, it is surprisingly deceptive and I'm very sorry I bought it for my 8th grade class. David Robbins wrote the book in very simple English, implying a readability in the sixth or seventh grade range. However, once you are a few pages into the book, Mr. Robbins litters his writing with completely unnecessary profanities and vulgarities. The words are in complete opposition to the style he uses. I was extremely disappointed in the book, as were my students, once we blipped over his words. It's no surprise Hollywood rated the movie as an R with such language in the movie, but to write such a simply worded book and then just toss in foul language just to do so is ridiculous. The book had the potential to make a tremendous statement to my students, but all they remember is the unnecessary foul language. I do not recommend this book for school aged kids and I also do not recommend it for adults as the reading is far to mundane. A wonderful message, ruined by a careless writer.

This is a very good book. This book is based on my uncle. This book is about how he went to the Navy. It is also about his struggle to come back and become the first black master chief petty officer. Again this book was very good beside the profanity. There was a lot of bad words in this book.

The author of this book really did a fantastic job in coveying the emotion, courage, and heartfelt struggle of the main character, Carl Brashear, who people should know is a real life person. Brashear is the first African American to achieve the rank of Master Diver, and even more incredibly, he earned the rank after a grueling retraining and retesting AFTER he had lost a leg. So not only did Carl have to overcome a debilitating injury in the face of overwhelming odds, but he had to deal with the racism and bigotry that tried to subvert his efforts throughout his career. Carl's story is simply amazing, and it is retold here in a way that truly leaps off the page. But even more incredibly, this novelization has a special foreword from both Carl Brashear, AND the director of the movie, George Tillman Jr! And if that wasn't enough, there is a whole interview section at the back where one can read Carl's story, in Carl's own words! Kudos to the publisher who included this fascinating excerpt, and to the author for a first-rate job with the novelization.