Review of "Teddy Roosevelt: Young Rough Rider," by Edd Winfield Parks

 Review of

Teddy Roosevelt: Young Rough Rider, by Edd Winfield Parks, ISBN 9780689713491

Five out of five stars

Fictionalized, but still accurate enough

 Although President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt was born into privilege, he was still a self-made man. He was a sickly child born into wealth that worked hard at turning his body into something that he could use to get what he wanted out of life. Severely asthmatic as a child, he adopted a vigorous lifestyle, becoming among other things a big-game hunter, explorer, cattle rancher, soldier, crusader for justice, author, conservationist, trust-buster and the 26^th President of the United States.

 This book is a fictionized version of his youth, capturing his exuberant and dynamic personality. Some of his childhood antics are typical of what a mischievous boy would do, if you were a member of a wealthy family. Roosevelt never seemed to use his social rank to gain advantage and the energy and courage he had as a child went with him into adulthood.

 This is a fun book to read, for it is a true story of a child with a weak body that turned it into a strong one by sheer determination. Making him a hero to all 98-pound weaklings.