Junior Biography/Memoir by Craig Challen and Richard Harris (with Ellis Henican)
My youngest child is currently doing what we call the Premier’s Reading Challenge, where they are encouraged to read 20 books within the year, at least ten of which must come from a recommended list for wide-reading. At the end of the year, they receive a Certificate. After nine consecutive years of achieving the Certificate, they receive a medal from the Premier of the State. As part of this challenge, my daughter read ‘Against All Odds’ (Young Readers Edition) by Craig Challen and Richard Harris, the two anaesthetists who assisted in the rescue of the twelve boys and their coach from inside the Thai cave in 2018. When she had finished, she asked me to return it to our local library. Intrigued by this story back when it happened, I had always intended to watch the documentary. But with the book still several weeks from being due for return, I picked it up and began reading.
Although this edition is for Juniors (ages 11-15), it is engaging enough that I have become immersed in the alternating narratives of the two doctors. As a mother, my heart tore upon reading the devastating reactions and desperation of the parents when they heard about their sons.
Outside the cave, fear for the boys’ safety mounted. ‘My son , come out,’ cried Titan’s mother. ‘I am waiting for you here.’
…The mother of a boy named Dom began to weep as soon as she recognised her son’s bike and soccer bag. ‘My heart is gone!’ she cried.
And how could I not be moved when, after they were found, the boys and their humble coach wrote to their loved ones while waiting to be rescued from inside the cave:
Mum, are you well at home? I am fine. Please tell my teacher as well … Mark
Don’t worry. I miss you all … I love you all. I am happy, the SEAL team is taking care of us very well … Mick.
And from their coach:
What gets me with these letters is their coach’s humility, and how positive the kids were, so grateful for having been found, and hopeful they will be rescued, often requesting their favourite meals to be prepared for when they get out.
So I’m hooked. We know how this story ends. But I still want to read all the details. I want to be in the rescue and the heart-warming reunion with them.
Where I’m up to now, I’m currently experiencing the urgency to make a move — the rain is coming, the cave could flood even more — as well as the need for caution with so many lives at stake, not just the boys themselves, but the divers as well. Then I want to experience the exhilaration and anxiety of the rescue itself, and the relief and elation afterwards.
Isn’t that what reading is about?
Glad I didn’t return this book straight away.