March 1, 2013
Gr 9 Up-Jackson recounts the details of his life in rural Missouri in 1984 when he was 10. Readers witness him navigating the changes that came through the loss of a loved one and a family member moving away. Creating a strong sense of place and time with evocative language, he immerses readers in the midst of a torrential thunderstorm. "I could hear the thunder. Muffled, thuddy thunder. And I could hear my quickened heartbeat. This was not good at all, this basementless tornado-bait farmhouse." Jackson writes about each season, whether the family is harvesting and preserving produce or homebound due to a blizzard, with equal descriptiveness. Sadly, the environment is more engaging than the people. One feels detached while reading about Jeremy and his family coping with a terminal illness, and the inability to connect with anyone makes the book tedious at times. The child's nervousness when purchasing earrings for his crush and the subsequent trepidation about giving them to her are believable, just not captivating. Older teens are perhaps the intended audience, given the small font and the reflective nature of the narrative, yet the plodding events, lack of engagement, and Jeremy's age may dissuade them from staying with it.-Hilary Writt, Sullivan University, Lexington, KY
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