Review: ‘Never, never, never give up!’
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 19, 2013
Dr. Ben Shomer opens his wonderful book for children with this touching preface: ‘The story “No More” is really a story about every person's life. Our modern society is highly demanding. It moves very fast, it drives towards ambitions and accomplishments, and in certain ways, it is quite restrictive. More and more people find it hard to cope with and so live a life of frustration and isolation. The common reactions to this situation are either depression, which many times erupts in a volcano of terror, or continuous expressions of aggression or violence, which may be in the form of physical or emotional abuse. Such forms of aggression, violence or emotional abuse are common in workplaces, in schools, on the streets, at home, and in people's private lives. There is probably no person on Earth, and certainly not in the Western society, who has not faced some form of violence in their early lives as children or throughout adulthood.’Sam is a 9 year old with a baby sister with whom he plays whenever his is not in school. Sam has a history: he has always loved playing sports with his friend but he is ht smallest of them all – short, thin, and weak and unable to beat his friends when they fought. Besides, Sam’s mother taught him to never hit back so given all this, Sam never had a chance to stand up for himself, even as far back as pre-school. Now in elementary school Sam was better until one of his big strong classmates named Josh bullied Sam. Even when Sam was with his protective friends, Josh still pushed him around to the point of wounding him. Sam ran home, his mother tended to is wounds, and disturbed about her previous advice that Sam not fight back, decide to place Sam in a Judo class. Mario, the judo instructor, said ‘Welcome to Judo, kids. Here you will learn how to use your body to defend yourselves and how to become self-assured and powerful. Judo is not for attacking and hitting others. It is for your security and protection. It is also a sport. You will only use Judo for your own good.’ Sam learned judo but was till afraid of Josh at school until he finally learned the rules of engagement in judo – a demonstration of the spirit of fighting  - NEVER give up! Summer came and Sam attended Judo camp, always increasing his skills and his rank. Finally, after an incident at school where Sam is attacked by Josh, Sam remembers all this judo training, thought about self-defense cry of ‘No more!’ and finally defeated the bully Josh. Sam was happy, his mother was happy and his judo class praised his story of Sir Winston Churchill who at WW II’s end said ‘You have enemies? Good! That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. Never, never, never give up!!!’Dr. Ben Shomer, a spiritual mentor and life coach, writes exceptionally well and his story coupled with fine illustrations by Alyssa DeNovio is a complete success. But the inspiration of his writing and his mission in life  - ‘I wrote this book with great love and dedication, based on my high vision of educating a new generation to create peace and harmony in a sustainable, eco balanced global community’ – is what makes it so very special. Highly recommended for all families and schools. Grady Harp, November 13