Book Reviews - Happy Reading

by Life Positive

Some news stories here will make you laugh, others smile, but all will seep deep into your mind. A wonderful story that's making me smile, is of three-year-old Willy Whitley from Virginia Beach, selling corn to keep a sick two-year old girl alive. When this pint-sized boy saw a television news story about Zoe Walenius, who suffers from a rare disease called Opsiclonus Myoclonus Syndrome, he "kept talking about Zoe, and really wouldn't stop talking about her for several days," his father, Rob said. So together they worked out a plan to raise money to help Zoe's family pay her exorbitant medical bills: They planted corn. When the ears were ripe, they picked and sold it, with all profits going to a foundation dedicated to helping Zoe and other children with the same disease.

Besides news stories, there are some sunny health articles on a variety of subjects, from video games being good for kids, to exercise beating the blues. My favourite quote by William Blake, "The essentials to happiness are something to love, something to do, and something to hope for," finds its way into an article called Some Thoughts on Happiness. There is also a section felicitating heroes, those ordinary people who have done extraordinary deeds. The story of a man, a two-time cancer survivor who has climbed seven of the highest peaks of the world, will leave you tingling with inspiration. Whenever he descends from a mountain, his first stop is always the children's ward of a local hospital, where he shares his adventures with young cancer patients. "Watching their faces light up with hope is the best feeling in the world," he says. Even better than watching a sunrise from the peak of Mount Everest.

- Megha Bajaj