Book Review: The Ultimate Gift, The Prize

The Ultimate Gift, by Jim Stovall is a must read for children and adults age 12 and up.

Red Stevens was a self-made man who gave his family everything -- and ruined them in the process. Now, as his estate of oil companies and cattle ranches is divided among greedy and self-serving relatives, one member is singled out for something special: Red's great-nephew, Jason.
In a darkened room, isolated from the rest of his family, Jason is confronted by the image of his deceased great uncle on a video monitor... and so begins a 12 month quest for purpose and meaning in an empty life, as Jason attempts to complete the tasks required to receive Red Stevens' greatest bequest....The Ultimate Gift. If your kids won’t read it, you can always see the movie



The Prize : The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power by Daniel Yergin
Although written in the early 90’s about the history of oil as an industrial product, it provides us a terrific understanding of the dynamics that shape the oil industry. A winner of the 1992 Pulitzer Prize for nonfiction, it is a comprehensive history of one of the commodities that powers the world--oil. Founded in the 19th century, the oil industry began producing kerosene for lamps and progressed to gasoline. Huge personal fortunes arose from it, and whole nations sprung out of the power politics of the oil wells. Yergin's fascinating account sweeps from early robber barons like John D. Rockefeller, to the oil crisis of the 1970s, through to the Gulf War.