I just finished reading Running for My Life by Lopez Lomong, the US olympic runner who was the flag bearer in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. I absolutely LOVED the book! Throughout the book, Lopez shares his strong faith in God who saved him when he was kidnapped by rebel soldiers at the tender age of 6. He escaped them, thanks to his angels--three older boys who told him they were from his village and took him with them when they ran away. Three boys who got him safely to the Kenyan border and a refugee camp, before they disappeared one night. Later he discovered that NO ONE in his village knew of these boys. Late in his stay at Kakuma, he is fortunate enough to watch Michael Johnson's gold winning race at the Sydney games. He is inspired and when he goes to the US about a year later, he comes to dream of winning a spot on a future US Olympic team. His goal is clear: run in the 2008 Olympics, but not just for personal glory. Lopez wants to bring help to his war-torn homeland, South Sudan.
I was pre-reading this with the intention of it being a reader for Erik, but after completing it have decided to make it a read aloud. I don't want Elise to miss out on this amazing book!
Elise has Going Solo as one of her readers for the upcoming year and much of the action takes place in Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, which means it would work for Erik, too. This book is the autobiography of Roald Dahl and tells of his life working for Shell and his RAF days fighting in the Western Desert, Greece and on the Israel/Syrian border. He has some amazing stories in it and I think Erik will enjoy most of it. 
A friend recommended the second book in this series, which takes place in South America, so I decided to check out this book as well. The main character is about to be sent to Nebraska to live with some cousins after his mother is killed in a pedestrian/car accident. He can't reach his father who is studying elephants in the Kenyan bush. So, he does what any slightly desperate teenager does. He purchases airline ticket to Nairobi, forges a letter from his father to help get a tourist visa to visit Kenya, and hawks some of his mother's jewelry to raise the additional funds he needs. Once in Kenya, after a series of misadventures, he does manage to track his father down and save a small herd of "big tusker" elephants. He also help a local shaman end the drought.
There is quite a bit of animism/mysticism in the book. The local shaman saves his life and helps Jake get closer to his father, introducing him to the head shaman along the way. He also teaches him some Masai tracking skills. (I have no idea if these are real Masai technique or not.)
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