Review: A Remarkable story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 6, 2013
When an author writes a book that is so eloquently poignant, you have no choice but to love it.  This is how  I feel about Little Joe by Michael E. Glasscock III.  This  coming-of-age story provides the reader with an emotional journey into the psyche of a child who has suffered more loss at this tender age than most of us can imagine.Little Joe Stout is nine years old when he becomes an orphan.  Both his parents are killed in a car accident in which he was spared, and he is sent to live with his grandparents in Round Rock Tennessee.  Now you have to understand that this little boy is used to the city.  Growing up in Texas, Little Joe is a city-boy, with a pretty comfy up-bringing in a house full of friends and fun.  His grandparents have a farm in rural Tennessee.  With no electricity, and food that comes from the land that they live on, Little Joe is thrust into an unfamiliar world that he is having a hard time adjusting to.  And his grandparents believe in discipline and respect and their method of parenting seemed at first to be a little overbearing.  Little Joe dislikes his new surroundings and is angry and upset that he has been forced to live here.  And during all this transition, he is trying to come to grips with his grief as well.I absolutely loved this book.  I had just finished reading Wish You Well by David Baldacci, another book that I thoroughly enjoyed, and LIttle Joe reminds me so much of this book.  They both deal with children who have lost their parents and are sent to live with relatives with completely different ways of living.  And in both books, these children grow up realizing that a home is not just the place where you live - it is the people that are in it.I highly recommend this book.  It was beautifully written and packed with emotion.  Michael Glasscock is a talented storyteller as well as an articulate writer, and I am anxiously looking forward to reading the rest of the series.I received this e-book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.