Adam's Story

Charly #3

by Jack Weyland

Elder Roberts knows that he and his companion are out of their area. But he has only a few months left on his mission in New Jersey, and there's one door he just has to knock on. His mom's parents, who haven't seen him since he was a baby, live there. Maybe, just maybe, he can get them to accept the gospel like their daughter, Charly, did more than twenty years ago. And maybe he can find out something about his mother who died when he was a baby, and discover a little more about himself in the process. In this humorous and tender sequel to the novels Charley and Sam, best selling author Jack Weyland finally reveals what happened to Adam their only son.

About the Author:

Jack Weyland, one of the best-selling and most prolific authors of LDS fiction ever, received a bachelor's degree from Montana State University and a Ph.D. from Brigham Young University. He teaches physics at BYU-Idaho, where he is also known for his saxophone playing and his wry sense of humor. He and his wife, Sheryl, have five children and live in Rexburg, Idaho.

Genres: Lds Fiction, Lds, Fiction, Young Adult, Romance, Religion, Christian Fiction

227 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2003

About the author

Jack Weyland is the best-selling author of young-adult fiction for the Latter-day Saint market. In fact, the modern genre of Latter-day Saint-themed popular fiction is one he is largely responsible for creating with his overwhelmingly popular novel Charly. His interest in fiction began with a correspondence course in creative writing taken during a summer at BYU where he was doing research work. Since then he has published more than two dozen books, and over fifty of his short stories have been published by the LDS Church magazine The New Era.

Born in Butte, Montana, Jack received a B.S. degree in physics from Montana State University and a Ph.D. in physics from BYU. Currently he teaches physics at BYU-Idaho. He formerly taught physics at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology.

Jack and his wife, Sheryl, are the parents of five children and have four grandchildren. His hobbies include racquetball and singing.

Reviews

[Majenta · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Who were those other two women who came and sat down with you?"
"There was nobody sitting with us."
"No, there were. I saw them."

Wow.

Did you love CHARLY and SAM? This is Part III, the story of their son Adam: all grown up and winding up his mission. He gets his companion to accompany him a little way off their path to pay a very important visit. The people haven't seen him since he was very small, and once he convinces them that he is indeed Adam Roberts, they couldn't be more overjoyed to see him, and after a great catch-up visit he promises to come back after he's been home. From there, his life unfolds a little differently than he'd thought, including a dangerous detour--can he steer himself back on-course and stay there? And how will he find his other half?

Thanks for reading.

[Brittany Sweeney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adam's story is the third and final book in the Charly trilogy. It is told from the view of Adam, who is Charly's son. Charly died when Adam was a baby, and Adam tries to get to learn about her when he visits his grandparents, who happen to live in the area in which he's serving his mission. After returning home when his two years are up, Adam finds that he has a void in his life that he can't fill, so he decides to postpone college and live with his grandparents. However, life becomes complicated when a sister missionary from his past invades both his life and his heart. Can Adam find love with the woman who drove him crazy on his mission? Can he convert his grandparents to the gospel the way his father helped to convert his mother? These are the struggles Adam faces as he comes to terms with who his mother was and who he is meant to be. This book is entertaining and a fairly satisfying end to the series, especially considering the debicle of the second book in the series, Sam. This book is humorous and light and focuses on what it means to love someone you've never known and how hard it can be to escape the shadow of a family member. Adam is a tender novel, and while somewhat partonizing in the way it speaks of morality, it is a decently entertaining novel.

[T.A.]

Here we are again, I want to state VERY loudly and clearly for the record that I only read this book (or rather listened to someone read it) as a part of my post-Mormon religious deconstruction process. Shout out to Sam and Tanner from Zelf on the Shelf for providing such entertaining commentary on what is truly a dismaying but telling exploration of one Mormon author's psyche. I honestly wasn't going to review this or mark it on Goodreads at all (because let's be honest, it's embarassing), but I do have a 50-book reading challenge to win for the year, so here we are. If I sat through hours and hours of Jack Weyland's sexism, preaching, and general hijinks, I'm for damn sure going to make it count for something.

Look, sometimes you need to be serious and do some very deep, thoughtful reflection on your religious indoctrination. Other times, you just need to laugh and commiserate with others through reading mediocre Mormon romance books that you probably would have thought were perfectly fine at one point in your life. If nothing else, the horrified and flabbergasted reactions I had while listening to this are a testament to how far I've come, and that's pretty encouraging.

[NaDell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this one much better than Charly (my adult reading wasn't as incredible as I remembered it being) and Sam. Still, the characters did so many things that didn't make sense.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

There is no difference between Adam and his father Sam. They both get to treat people like garbage and do nothing to make amends. There was an interesting concession that Sam got married too quickly, which the second book didn't seem to believe.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

So cute! Glad I reread this series.

[Gable Roth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have to give this one 3 stars because it was SO much better than the first two. Although, when I compare it with my other 3 star books then this one was not as good as those. This is a low 3 stars for me.

What I liked about this book is probably due to the fact that it was written many years after the first 2 and this one had a lot fewer church stereotypes and cultural stereotypes. There were a lot of things that I really liked about Adam's character. But there were a lot of things I didn't like.

This book is a story of self discovery. It is something we all need to go through. Although, most of our self discovery stories are not as exciting as Adam's so nobody would ever write a book about them. :-)

I am glad that I read this series... but I wouldn't recommend it to anyone else and I don't plan to read anything else by this author. This was enough for me.

[David Nishimoto · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story has a surprise ending that moves one to tears. Before my beloved mother died she told the lady doctor helping her with cancer treatment she would be her escort when the doctor became old and died. It touched my heart. I still think about my mom and her love for others . She was nonjudgmental and she had nice things to say about neighbors. I would never dream of talking about my neighbors so kindly. Mom did. Adam loved his mom.

I loved the love story it was a rollercoaster. I personally found the logic confusing at times. It created frustration but I prevail. Adam wins the girls heart Brianna. By the end of the story you love Brianna as much as the grandparents do. Beautiful story of love

[Leslie Thackeray · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 I have read just about every Jack Weyland book out there, but 20 + years ago. I'm certain this book is not up to the caliber of the other books, but maybe I'm just older and more mature. I thought the characters weren't developed, the dialogue seemed choppy, and although there seemed to be a lot of emotion written, none of it came through to me. It kind of seemed like it was written one week before the deadline. I don't recommend this book, even to young adults, only because I didn't think it was well-written. Read some of his other books, they are better.

[Naomi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I mostly just feel like Adam's character was so inconsistent... also I do not admire the whole disobey-the-mission rules thing lol.

[Cherri · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of Adam, son of Charly, and his life.

[Bailey · Rating 1 out of 5]

Listening to Samantha and Tanner read and comment on this book solely healed my religious trauma.

[Tenielle Honeycutt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice, quick read (which is common for Jack Weyland). I didn't read Charly or Sam, but I have loved the movie "Charly" for about 20 years. It was great to read about Adam.

[Alexis.L 7 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book Adams story is not a very great book. Its the third book in a series and I loved the other ones. This book is about a boy named Adam. His mom died when he was fairly little and the he got a step mom. In this timeline he is on an LDS mission. It just talks about his adventures and trials he has with some people that is on the mission field with him. I did not really like this book because it was pretty bland. Not very a jaw jerking book. It doesn't really keep me on the edge of my seat willing to read more. Honestly I can barely flip the page, pretty big trials happen but I just don't really feel in the book or even really attached. I liked how hes just like his dad. he does something mean and then has a major urge to call them back and say he is sorry. I also like just knowing that he is Charley and Sams kid It just makes me happy. I think that the authors purpose is to never give up on your hopes and stand for anything you believe in.

[Sariah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cheesy and predictable. I got through it, but that's about it.

[Ellee Barton · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book "Adam's Story" by Jack Weyland is definitely one of my favorites! This heartwarming story begins as Elder Roberts, also known as Adam, is nearing the end of his LDS mission. Breaking mission rules, Elder Roberts decides that he MUST pay a visit to his grandparents in effort to learn more about his deceased birth mom. He develops a love for not only his grandparents, but also gains a wonderful bond with his mom. Though it feels as if things could only get better, he does, however, have uninvited contention with another missionary in his district, making things a bit more difficult. Adam's journey is a very humbling experience for him as he learns who he is, and who doesn't want to be. I felt that this book exemplified many different views and perspectives about how we can decide what exactly our values are. And with that, there are many cautions that should be kept. That is why Adam's voice is so important, he goes through it all, so we can watch him as an example of the good, but also the bad. I gave this book a 4 out of 5 star rating because I felt that his struggles were too exaggerated, they spent way too much time on them. One event in particular really irritated me because I felt that it was such a drag of wasted space. The other elements of the book were very well thought out and described in a way that made you feel as if you were in the book too. The times when I could best relate to this book were when Adam found himself asking questions about his mom, Charly. She passed away when Adam was only 1 year old, so he couldn't remember her very well at all. But when others spoke about her, he felt more connected. He realized that he really does love his mom. That is how I have always felt about my grandma. She died when I was about 5 years old. Since I was so young, I can't recall of many memories I have with her. Though my mom still talks about her all the time, so even though I don't remember physically being with her, I feel like I know her. I know that she is not only a loving grandma, but she is also my really good friend. I've developed an unexplainable connection and love towards her. This is how Adam came across as feeling too, so it was fun to share those relations as I read the book. I loved "Adam's Story" so much that I almost wish there was a sequel so that I wouldn't have to end my involvement with the series!

[Stephanne Stacey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't think an author could get worse the more experienced they got, but I would have to say that Mr. Weyland did. This book was written 20 years after Charly was written and in that time Jack has not been able to create characters that have any personality differences whatsoever. Adam thinks like Sam who thinks like Brianna, who thinks like Charly, and so on and on. What made thinks worse is unlike the previous books where Mr Weyland refrained from repetition, in Ada's Story he did nothing but repeat plot points that the reader could have easily recalled for themselves without the play by play recaps.

As for the message of this book, well.... I'm not sure what that was entirely. Was it overcoming your addictions? Because if that was it, I don't think 4 instances of improper viewings of porn sites an addiction. A repentable mistake, but not an addiction. Certainly not to the extent of eliminating the internet and computers from your life and moving 2,000 miles away from your family and a computer job. Just to get ride of the temptation. I mean if it were a real actual addiction should he gouge his eyes out?

Perhaps the message was the worth of a person based on how much money they make. This seemed to be a continual issue in all three books. I haven't lived in Utah in over 15 years, is this really that much of a problem that it needs to be addressed that frequently? Perhaps so since it's one of the resounding reasons my husband won't move back there.

Or perhaps it's feeling valued by others only if you live your life how you feel they want you to live it. If this is the message than I think Jack did a fine job of winding it up at the end. But that is about the only thing that I found he did well.

I wasn't going to have my kiddos read all the books in this series, but now I'm just curious about what they would think about it. If the books actually help them resolve some of their own demons. If they tell me that they did, then I suppose Mr. Weyland's objective was achieved and the books redeem themselves.

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've ever seen the movie or read the book "Charly", this is the third book in the series. After the books Charly and Sam, this is the story of their son, Adam, as he returns from his mission in New Jersey, where he happens upon his grandparents, the parents of his late first mother, Charly.
Adam's only wish is to get his grandparents to join the church, which they eventually do.
I liked this book a lot. It dealt perfectly with the challenges of a modern return-missionary. It was very realistic in the timing... up until the end. I didn't like the end of the book really. It kind of seemed a bit "thrown together". Just "page fillers" to make the book longer and keep the story interesting. The end part of the story was really nice, and it ended well... but getting there seemed too long and a little unrealistic (though highly predictable).

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I saw Adam's Story at my library the other day, and thought I'd check it out since it was a sequel to one of the Jack Weyland books I'd read years ago.

Adam is nearing the end of serving a two year mission, and has one final thing he must do before his time is up-meeting his maternal grandparents. His mom died when he was very young, and after his dad remarried, contact was lost.

They have an instant connection. But his grandparents live outside of Adam's assigned area, so he's unable to stay as close as he'd like. The last few months of his mission are really difficult for him, and going home isn't any better.

He eventually finds himself back in New Jersey, working for his grandpa. He has a strong desire to find out who he is, and thinks that learning more about his mom will help.

The story was ok, but I suppose it might have been enjoyed more by a young teenager.

[Quinton Baran · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Jack Weyland's books - I have read them since I was a teenager back in the 80's. They speak to me. The characters are warm, and realistic.

In this book, we primarily have the character of Adam, the son of Charly and Sam (this is the third book in a series, and those are the first two book titles). Adam travels through a story of self discovery in this book, which covers about a year's length in time. He explores themes of intimacy, isolation, love, thrift, hard work, and education. Jack deals with each of these themes gently, often with humor, sometimes with a salt of the earth perspective.

This book speaks of our common humanity and how we can find community with our families, despite being hurt by them.

[KyneWynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mostly read this because I read Charly and Sam -- and so the idea of finding out what happened to their son was enough to propel me to read the book. Unfortunately, I merely had lukewarm feelings for a predictable, formulaic story. It had its moments, but not worth the $7.50 I paid at the 2nd hand bookstore; which is rather a shame, because I loved the original Charly, but perhaps that was because I read it when I was young and idealistic with great hopes for my future, looking forward to romance and marriage and having a family. Who knew that I would play out (albeit at a more advanced age) the saga of losing my spouse.

[Mommywest · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great follow up story to Jack Weyland's books Charly and Sam that follows Sam and Charly's only son Adam as he finishes up his mission, connects with his mother's parents, and struggles to discover who he really is and what he is supposed to do with his life after learning about the mother he never knew. This tale touches on many topics that confront young adult males in today's world, particularly LDS young adult males, and it also touches on family dynamics and healing. Of course there's clean romance involved (it's a Jack Weyland YA novel, after all), and plenty of laughs and touching moments. It's a great little story that ties up in an unexpected but beautiful way.

[Greg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Adam's Story is a lighthearted tale, sequel to two of Jack Weyland's other books, Charly and Sam. It is the story of Adam, Charly and Sam's son, now grown. Much like the others, it is an improbable romance, but filled with warm-hearted humor. It is not a profound novel, or anything other than an uplifting way to fill some free time, but it highlights the importance of basing our self-image only on God, and the difficulties we encounter when we use anything else, even our loved ones, as a measuring stick.

[Melanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the final installment of the Jack Weyland 3-book series begun with Charly. I loved reading this book. it tooke me back to the time when I was reading Charly and Sam and to a place where belief is totally suspended and the plot just takes you away. The narrative was fast-paced and even. Thought it ended up all nice and tidy -- that is of course how I wanted it, and needed. I am glad Mr. Weyland went back to visit the parents long left-behind and in shadow at the death of their daughter, Charly. I can now leave them behind once again.

[Shelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about Adam who is the son of Jack Weyland's Charly and Sam. The book is difficult to get through. He is an RM and things are going well for him until he stumbles upon something on his computer which turns into a pernicious addiction - pornography. The book relates how Adam seeks help and goes throught the repentance and the people who love him as he goes through this difficult time in his life.

[Debbie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't stand this book. Adam doesn't know his maternal grandparents?? Just because his mother died when he was young is no excuse, his father should have made sure that he knew them. How could he let his new wife completely erase all memories of his mom from his life. And what kind of woman would want to do such a horrible thing. And I can't stand the love interest, she is so annoying. This books is disturbing to me.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jack Weyland is a great author. I was going to say "for young people" but I'm 75 and have been reading his stories for more years than I care to mention so let's just leave it at "great author." If you've read "Charly" and "Sam" this will finish out the story. If you've never heard of those books you'll still like this one. His stories contain more dialog than most books and give you a look inside people. You might even see someone you recognize a part of in one of his stories.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't notice that this book was a sequel until it was a few pages in. Since I read Charly and Sam years ago, it was good to think back to the previous books. I enjoyed learning about Adam, his mission, seeing his relationship grow with his grandparents, finding who is is etc. Sadly, he also goes through some pretty tough trials. This book had me laughing and in the end I was deeply touched and in tears. A wonderful end to the series!

[Julie King · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first you think the story is going to be full of conflict with Adam meeting his maternal grandparents that he hasn't seen since he was a toddler. The potential for gripping conflict is there, added with his fight over pornography addiction. But everything wraps up very nicely-his grandparents join the Church, he magically has no problem fighting his pornography addiction and everyone rides off into the sunset, happy that all is well. The book is sweet, but a little too sweet.

[Joy · Rating 4 out of 5]

What's not to like about Jack Weyland. Like all his books, this is fun to read. It was interesting to me on a personal level--about grandparents who loved their grandchild from afar and then helped him "find himself" as an adult, reconciling a dead mother, his father's choices, his controlling (but nice) "2nd" mother, and himself. Of course there's plenty of nice clean action too.