“The journey of life is the matter of traveling well rather than reaching a destination.” In a realistic fiction novel titled The Ultimate Gift, Jim Stovall makes this clear. A young man named Jason Stevens receives smaller gifts from his grandfather that eventually lead to the ultimate one. These “gifts” are life lessons that Howard Red Stevens passes on to his grandson, Jason, after his death. Both the reader and Jason can learn from these life lessons.

    When Red Stevens passes away, his best friend, Theodore J. Hamilton, takes it upon himself to carry out his will. He has to deal with Red Stevens’ snobby relatives who only want the money Red has left behind. Jason thinks he can walk away with millions of dollars like the rest of his family. However, Red wants Jason to work for the reward, which he calls “the ultimate gift.” He says “One of the biggest mistakes I ever made was when I gave everyone in our family everything that they thought they wanted.” Red wanted Jason to learn the importance of working for things on his own. Throughout the process, Red makes Jason think about things that he usually doesn’t pay attention to. He teaches Jason to live life to the fullest and to spread the lessons he’s learned. 

    Over the course of a year, Jason Stevens learns about the many gifts in life that most people overlook. Even though he seems reluctant at first and doesn’t want to participate, he gives in. Jason thinks it’s a waste of time and he isn’t dedicated to the tasks. Red Stevens makes it clear that he can either cooperate with Mr. Hamilton or go home with nothing. Mr. Hamilton takes on Jason’s comments and frustration with sympathy and patience. Eventually, Jason learns the value of simplicity in life through these gifts.

    In the marvelous novel, Stovall introduces the gifts of life to the reader in a simple yet eloquent manner. Jason’s grandfather presents the lessons in such a way that the reader has no choice but to remember them. One gift he gives Jason is the gift of love. “Love is a treasure for which we can never pay. The only way we keep it is to give it away.” Jason had never experienced this love, because his family was so full of greed and only cared about money. Stovall also did a great job with developing Jason as a character. I had the opportunity to watch the subtle differences as the chapters and months went by. Jason commenced as such an ungrateful person, and I was surprised that simple lessons like the ones introduced caused him to change so much. 

    Reading this book made me stop and think about all the things I take for granted. Many of us rarely stop to think about how lucky we are to be receiving an education. There are people around the world who don’t even have regular access to books, and they have to travel miles just to visit a library. Also, something as simple as the gift of laughter and the gift of friends isn’t thought about often enough. Every day I go home to a family who loves me. Many people don’t have that, and many others don’t value it as much as they should. The Ultimate Gift is a beautifully written book that shows how much some people can change after seeing the world from a different perspective.

    The Ultimate Gift is a story that touches upon the things about life that many people don’t think twice about. Jason befriends new people in this one-year journey who help shape him into a better person. The reader can learn a lot from Jason and, hopefully, both the positive and negative experiences he had while on the way to discover the ultimate gift of life.