Given to me by my cousin, who said, "I defy you to read three pages of this and not want to read more."

I actually did like this book a good deal, though I had many questions in my mind while reading it and still at the end, that were never answered. I was worried that it would be a Cathcher in the Rye teenage angst type novel, but unfolded in quite a different manner. The starkness of the Salton Sea fascinated me. I'd never heard of that particular area and felt the author brought it home, to life for me. It is the story of a 12 year old boy, living with his mother and disabled brother, in this lonely little community in California. He is trapped in the role of the brother of "the retard" but slowly his world begins to expand through interactions with a librarian, who is giving his brother some additional instruction/help. Add into the mix a rebellious, delinquent son of the librarian, a tumultuous homelife and a few other things, and the story has enough tension to carry it forth.


My medical mind wondered exactly what was going on with Laurel's back, and what exactly was going on with Malcolm's brain. His fascination with birds is easily understandable to me. I get lost in the beauty of their flight and I am not autistic. There are other questions that I kept screaming to myself, particularly towards the climax of the first part, but to reveal those questions would be a major spoiler. Suffice it to say, that there are some things today's society is more sophisticated about in terms of crimes and crime scenes.

Anyhow, it was a good book. I read it on the flight back from California.

Given to Jojosdaddio

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Brought to Meetup!

To the finder of this book:

Welcome to BookCrossing, a unique community of book lovers, sharing their libraries with the world. This book is now yours to read, enjoy, keep or pass on to another reader. The BookCrossing ID, which you entered in the "Enter a BCID" box on the website, is unique to this copy of this book. If you make a journal entry (either anonymously, or as a BookCrossing member) all previous readers of this actual book will be notified by email, and can follow the book as it travels. BookCrossing is free to join, completely confidential (you are known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address) and a heck of a lot of fun. Be on the lookout for other books left in the "Wild"!

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Sounds good, bookczuk!

I was quite taken with this poignant story. Bookczuk has described it well. I felt for Ares, and his whole family actually, from the start. They were doing the best they could, given their background and circumstances. Saying much more would be a spoiler. This would be a good book group discussion title, I think.

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

I sent this book to a fellow BCer who had it on her wish list. Hope you like it.

Thanks so much for sending this book! I know I have had it a while without journalling it. I had my first baby in April so things have been wild around here. I was really excited to get this in the mail. I am not getting much reading done at the moment but will definitely set it free when I finally get a chance to read this one!

Thanks again!