Just a Regular Boy by Catherine Ryan Hyde

 

First line:  Remy Blake was five years old when his father drove him away from Pocatello for the last time. 

The plot:  Raised in isolation by his survivalist father in the far northern woods of Idaho, Remy learns to hunt and fish, but not how to live in the real world. He's taught to fear it instead. Then his father dies, leaving him all alone in the wilderness. Only eight, Remy struggles to survive, but the threat of starvation finally forces him to seek out the nearest town for food. When authorities finally find him, he's badly injured, traumatized, half-starved, and mute. That's when Anne and her husband, Chris, enter the picture. They've already adopted two children. But Anne is determined to give Remy a safe home, too. No matter how difficult the next part of his journey may be. 

My thoughts:  My heart went out to Remy. He's one tough little boy. His narrative was my favorite part of this book. All of his struggles, both survial-wise and emotional, were so gripping.  His story alternates with Anne's narrative. Her struggles to be a good wife and mom weren't quite as compelling, but I still liked her, especially all her interactions with Remy, as she tried to help him work through his past traumas and validate his feelings. This book is both heartbreaking and heartwarming. And it raises some interesting questions about fear and how people choose to respond to it. All in all, this turned out to be a 4-star read for me. 

Happy Reading!

Similar read:

The Good Dream by Donna VanLiere

A bookish gem...

The Bookshop on the Shore by Jenny Colgan isn't really about a bookshop. It's mostly about Zoe, a single mom, and Hari, her four-year-old son, who hasn't started to speak yet. Escaping her dismal job in London, and her even more dismally expensive flat, Zoe heads to Scotland to be a nanny. Only once she's there she discovers that her three charges are the opposite of welcoming; their ramshackle estate isn't exactly comfortable or convenient; and Ramsey, their single father, is mostly absent. And Hari still isn't talking. Down but not defeated, Zoe presses on. After all, she can't exactly go back home. And soon everything around her starts to change for the better.

What I loved most about this book:

• It's set in beautiful Scotland.
• Nina and Lennox from The Bookshop on the Corner are both in it. (And Nina's pregnant!)
• Zoe is plucky, vulnerable, resilient, and witty; and her interactions with Shackleton, Mary and Patrick, the three hard-to-deal-with Urquart children, totally made me laugh.
• There's lots of talk about books and reading.
• Ramsey isn't your typical hunky hero, but in his own quiet and awkward way, he's hard to resist.
• It has a happy ending.

 

Happy Reading!

Small as an Elephant

Jack Martel's mother takes him camping at the Seawall Campground on Mount Desert Island, Maine, but when he wakes up in the morning his mother is gone. Jack looks for her around the campground; he takes the Island Explorer bus around the island in search of their rental car; and he walks every inch of Bar Harbor in the hopes of spotting her in one of the shops or restaurants. What he doesn't do is tell anyone that she's missing because it's not likely that she's been in an accident or is hurt. "The likeliest possibility was that she had just gone off--again."

Here are some things I liked about Jennifer Richard Jacobson's novel:

1. Jack's ingenuity and stubborn determination as he searches for his mother. (Although the fact that he's only eleven and is on his own is also heartbreaking.)
2. The kind and quirky characters he meets along the way. (Especially Big Jack.)
3. The Maine setting. (The description of Bar Harbor and Mount Desert Island made me want to book a summer trip to Maine!)
4. Jack's obsession with elephants. (Every chapter is headed with an elephant fact or quote, which I loved.)
5. Jacobson's writing. (Although this 275-page novel is written for children, it doesn't read like a children's book; this is a moving and memorable novel perfect for readers of any age.)
6. It fills another category in my Reading New England Challenge!

Happy Reading!

From the T Shelf...

Author: Haley Tanner

Title: Vaclav & Lena

Vaclav, a Russian immigrant boy, dreams of becoming a great magician and performing at Coney Island, just like his hero Harry Houdini. His assistant, Lena, is one month younger than Vaclav and also Russian. She is essential to Vaclav's magic act. For him, "There is no show without Lena. Lena is necessary for all the illusions ... Lena is irreplaceable." Together they navigate public school, the English language, and life in America. For Vaclav, Lena "makes everything better just by being there." For Lena, Vaclav "is a place to go instead of nowhere." And then, one day, Lena is taken away. And for seven years they are apart.

The power of saying good night each night to Lena is great. On the first night that Lena was gone, Vaclav said good night to her, put the good night out into the scary, lonely darkness, and meant each word in a very specific way. Good night. Not a dangerous night. Not a cold or lonely or nightmare-filled night. He filled the words with all his love and care and worry for Lena and launched them out to her, and like homing pigeons, he trusted them to find her, and he felt, that night, that his words would keep Lena safe, that if he thought about her and cared about her and showed this to the universe, then bad things would not happen to her...

They are seventeen when they are reunited, but they both question whether they even know each other any more. This is such a great book! Vaclav and Lena share a connection that is both rare and poignant. I was drawn to them immediately. I especially loved Vaclav's penchant for lists and magic tricks and his unquestioning loyalty to Lena. So much so that I didn't want this story to end. Haley Tanner is an incredibly talented storyteller; I'm very glad her novel was sitting on the T shelf when I went to the library last week. It's books like this that make reading the alphabet rewarding and fun.

Happy Reading!