Love it, love it, love it!!! So touching and sweet. A beautiful ode to Barack Obama and what he inspired in others.

I read several memoir type books lately and the best of the group is TO OBAMA by Jeanne Marie Laskas, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh who has written seven books including Concussion and Hidden America. In TO OBAMA, Laskas shares the story of how President Obama read ten letters per day, an attempt to stay connected with average citizens he served.

In describing this book, the publisher (Random House) points out that Obama was the first president to interact daily with constituent mail and to archive it in its entirety. Roughly ten thousand letters a day arrived at the White House filled with emotion and "love, joy, anger, and hope," as Laskas' subtitle says. The letters are a wonderful, historical insight into the country as citizens looked for jobs and tried to recover from the Great Recession, or attempted to get health insurance with the Affordable Care Act, or simply wanted to praise a student's good grades or ask for homework help. You, too, can see samples of the letters and hear a few being read in this recent article which appeared in The Guardian. I was amazed and happy to learn that a DAILY word cloud was created based on the letters' content and then shared with White House policy makers, reminding them of the issues and ideas most on the minds of constituents. It is truly refreshing to think about how all of the professional and volunteer readers cared and followed up on correspondence – in our school library we have exhibited the letter our students received from President Obama. This is an inspirational book reminding us of the power of servant leadership, compassion and empathy.

Link to The Guardian article:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2018/aug/18/barack-obama-reveals-how-letters-from-the-american-people-shaped-his-presidency-interview

Thank you Penguin Random House for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

Every nation needs a leader who is genuine, compassionate and respectful like former president, Mr. Barrack Obama. This book contains selected letters from each citizens addressed to Mr. Obama during his term as President. Expressing their unfiltered emotions about the government and their everyday struggles. Empathizing with his fellow countrymen speaks a lot about his character.

I have so much respect for Mr. Obama. So as to former VP Mr. Joe Biden. As someone who rarely reads nonfiction, I am excited to read more of this book.

The compassion and true interest President Obama had for the people of this country shines out of this book. This book will hold much appeal for a variety of people.

I needed this. America- we NEED THIS.

To Obama is a series of letters that Laskas picked to represent the social and political challenges Obama dealt with during his eight year term as POTUS. The letters come from a diverse representation of constitutes and range in tone from love, anger, grief, etc., for readers to really understand the depth and scope of issues that Obama handled with compassion, dignity, and intellect as sitting President.

Laskas has a soft, yet analytical tone in her narrative as she describes meeting with the individuals that wrote each letter and what compelled them to share their personal stories and struggles with Obama.

For me, over the last two years so much of my days are spent just trying to survive, to fight, stand up against the injustice the Trump Administration is working overtime to deal out. Laskas new release is a reminder to me not to burn out and become compliant, that what I'm fighting for matters and it begins by telling our stories