Review: ONE OF THE BEST!!! PLEASE TAKE A CHANCE!!!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 11, 2014
It isn't very often something THIS GOOD comes my way, and I spend a lot of time looking!The story is told as a memory of an older man, remembering with great clarity, his unlikely first love. The story begins in 1967, and that year and the ensuing years are not all that good for teen aged boys, or young men in general.Decades worth of memories come together in a timeless love story of two teen aged opposites. In Dan Skinner's gifted hands we are given that rare gift of a tale of love, despair, and humor, in an important time in history. Just like the book that is being read by the main characters, A Separate Peace, the story of Dave and Ryan is cursed by destiny.As the beautiful prose tells us the beginning and blossoming of true love, it also shows us how love can overcome all barriers. With the aid of Dave's accepting parents, a surprise given the time period in which the story happens, as well as support from enemies-turned-friends Rosemary and Connor, love grows between Ryan and David.Without revealing anymore of this classic novel, I can only say that it fully measures up to some of the all time greats. Comparisons to A Better Place and other coming of age adult novels as The Body (aka Stand By Me), To Kill A Mockingbird, and a host of others come to mind. This may be read by ages 14 and up, but will be genuinely appreciated by mature readers, as the historical material included is vital to the story.Tenderly written with a loving touch by a great author, this novel contains a timeless and beautifully crafted story of unlikely love and desperate lovers who fight to protect what they have found against all odds and a hostile and uncaring society. They experience happiness and new friends along their journey, and it is these living, caring, breathing characters that make the story all the more real.This is a dazzling, spectacular novel to be read again and again. Laughter and tears abound in this American Classic. It left me speechless, and it takes quite a bit to do that.IF YOU READ ANYTHING THIS YEAR, PLEASE READ THIS. YOU WILL NOT BE DISAPPOINTED!