Book Review: Riley Unlikely by Riley Banks-Snyder

We use Compassion International to sponsor a boy in Uganda and a girl in Rwanda so I am always excited to read books about young people making a difference in Africa.

Riley Unlikely actually takes place in Kenya, so lots of things are of course very different than they are for our kids in Uganda or Rwanda, but I still loved learning more about what it’s like to travel internationally for a cause.

Riley and her family took on all kinds of causes, from school supplies to medical center volunteer work, hygiene kits, starting a school, and laying some groundwork for an orphanage. She took her first trip at age 13 and went back every summer from there. When she found out at 16 she was born with a rare disorder that would leave her unable to have children someday, she turned to her passion for helping the children of Kenya.

At some point during the book she talks about how we are all called to do different things, which I loved. I tend to read books like these and think I need to go somewhere else… but really, I’m not called to do that. Maybe I will be someday, I don’t know! But for now I am not and it was good to have this kind of guilt-like feeling erased when I read that.

If you’re at all interested in reading about some of Riley’s work, definitely check out the book!

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher through the BookLook Bloggers <http://booklookbloggers.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”