Valerie Fraser Luesse has a captivating writing style. With minimal words, she paints us a picture that places us right in the midst of the characters' world. The dialogue is exceptional, giving a strong sense of realism to the story.
But I didn't love the story as much as I thought I would.
Given the title and the book's description, I expected Isaac's disappearance to be a major part of the story. In truth, his disappearance only casts a vague shadow throughout most of the book. In fact, Pete wasn't even the character largely responsible for pursing answers. This is far more a coming of age story, as we watch Pete grow from a child to a young adult. Most of the story follows Pete's childhood crush growing into full-blown love. While heartfelt and well told, coming of age stories just aren't my thing.
The undercurrent of racism and class separation is handled well. We see how black people and poor white families were ostracized from the community, albeit in different ways. I do think these issues were slightly sugar-coated, which largely came down to characterization. The "good" characters were almost too good, never struggling with their moral high ground, and never backing down or giving in to any sort of peer pressure. The other characters weren't so much bad as they were products of their time. The book's description makes the claim that the characters discover things about themselves that may change them forever. I didn't get much sense of that happening, at least not in relation to the outcome of Isaac's disappearance.
My problem, in short, is that taking Isaac completely out of this story would change very little. Putting aside the expectations of Isaac's character having a central role, this is a well told story about a young boy growing into a man during difficult times.
But I didn't love the story as much as I thought I would.
Given the title and the book's description, I expected Isaac's disappearance to be a major part of the story. In truth, his disappearance only casts a vague shadow throughout most of the book. In fact, Pete wasn't even the character largely responsible for pursing answers. This is far more a coming of age story, as we watch Pete grow from a child to a young adult. Most of the story follows Pete's childhood crush growing into full-blown love. While heartfelt and well told, coming of age stories just aren't my thing.
The undercurrent of racism and class separation is handled well. We see how black people and poor white families were ostracized from the community, albeit in different ways. I do think these issues were slightly sugar-coated, which largely came down to characterization. The "good" characters were almost too good, never struggling with their moral high ground, and never backing down or giving in to any sort of peer pressure. The other characters weren't so much bad as they were products of their time. The book's description makes the claim that the characters discover things about themselves that may change them forever. I didn't get much sense of that happening, at least not in relation to the outcome of Isaac's disappearance.
My problem, in short, is that taking Isaac completely out of this story would change very little. Putting aside the expectations of Isaac's character having a central role, this is a well told story about a young boy growing into a man during difficult times.