description: Born with no air in his lungs, it was only when Reuben Land's father, Jeremiah, picked him up and commanded him to breathe that Reuben's lungs filled. Reuben struggles with debilitating asthma from then on, making him a boy who knows firsthand that life is a gift, and also one who suspects that his father is touched by God and can overturn the laws of nature. The quiet 1960's midwestern life of the Lands is upended when Reuben's brother Davy kills to marauders who have come to harm the family. The morning of his sentencing, Davy -- a hero to some, a cold-blooded murderer to others -- escapes from his cell, and the Lands set out in search of him. Their journey is touched by serendipity and the kindness of strangers, and they cover territory far more extraordinary than even the Badlands where they search for Davy from their Airstream trailer. Sprinkled with playful nods to Biblical tales, beloved classics such as Huckleberry Finn, the adventure stories of Robert Louis Stevenson, and the westerns of Zane Grey, Peace Like A River is at once a heroic quest, a tragedy, a love story, and a haunting meditation on the possibility of magic in the everyday world.
language: English
title: Peace Like a River
titlecomplete: Peace Like a River
characters: Jeremiah Land, Davy Land, Rube Land, Swede Land
genres: Fiction, Family, Coming Of Age, Book Club, Adult, Novels, Contemporary, Adult Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
ratings_count: 88957
places: North Dakota, The United States of America
awards: awardedAt: 1009872000000
name: Book Sense Book of the Year Award
category: Adult Fiction, awardedAt: 1009872000000
name: Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY)
category: Fiction - General, awardedAt: 1009872000000
name: ALA Alex Award, awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: Dublin Literary Award
publisher: Wheeler Pub Inc