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Slow Way Home: A Novel
On the surface, Brandon Willard seems like your average eight-year-old boy. He loves his mama, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and G. I. Joe. But Brandon's life is anything but typical.
Wise beyond his years, Brandon understands he's the only one in this world he can count on. It's an outlook that serves him well the day his mama leaves him behind at the Raleigh bus station and sets off to Canada with "her destiny" -- the latest man that she hopes will bring her happiness. The day his mother leaves, Brandon takes the first step toward shaping his own destiny. Soon he sends himself spending pleasant days playing with his cousins on his grandparents' farm and trying to forget the past. In the safety of that place, Brandon finally is able to trust the love of an adult to help iron out the wiry places until his nerves are as steady as any other boy's.
But when Sophie Willard shows up a year later with a determined look in her eye and a new man in tow, Brandon's grandparents ignore a judge's ruling and flee the state with Brandon. Creating a new life and identity in a small Florida town, Brandon meets the people who will fill him with self-worth and self-respect. He slowly becomes involved with "God's Hospital," a church run by the gregarious Sister Delores, a woman who is committed to a life of service for all members of the community, black and white, regardless of some townsfolk's disapproval.
Wise beyond his years, Brandon understands he's the only one in this world he can count on. It's an outlook that serves him well the day his mama leaves him behind at the Raleigh bus station and sets off to Canada with "her destiny" -- the latest man that she hopes will bring her happiness. The day his mother leaves, Brandon takes the first step toward shaping his own destiny. Soon he sends himself spending pleasant days playing with his cousins on his grandparents' farm and trying to forget the past. In the safety of that place, Brandon finally is able to trust the love of an adult to help iron out the wiry places until his nerves are as steady as any other boy's.
But when Sophie Willard shows up a year later with a determined look in her eye and a new man in tow, Brandon's grandparents ignore a judge's ruling and flee the state with Brandon. Creating a new life and identity in a small Florida town, Brandon meets the people who will fill him with self-worth and self-respect. He slowly becomes involved with "God's Hospital," a church run by the gregarious Sister Delores, a woman who is committed to a life of service for all members of the community, black and white, regardless of some townsfolk's disapproval.
300 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 23, 2003
153 people are currently reading
558 people want to read
About the author
Michael Morris
4 books76 followersA fifth-generation native of Perry, Florida, Michael Morris knows Southern culture and characters. They are the foundation and inspiration for the stories he writes.
His latest novel, Man in the Blue Moon, is based on a true story about a man on the run for murder who was shipped in a crate to his grandfather's family in the Florida Panhandle. The novel was named one of the Best Books of 2012 by Publishers Weekly and received the Book of the Year Award for Fiction by the Alabama Library Association. Man in the Blue Moon was also named a top three book club recommendation by the independent bookseller's association.
While working in the pharmaceutical industry and taking night classes with author Tim McLaurin at North Carolina State University, Michael started the story that would eventually become his first novel, A Place Called Wiregrass. The debut book won the Christy Award for Best First Novel.
Michael’s second novel, Slow Way Home, was compared to the work of Harper Lee and Flannery O’Connor by the Washington Post. It was nationally ranked as one of the top three recommended books by the American Booksellers Association and named one of the best novels of the year by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Michael is also the author of a novella based on the Grammy-nominated song “Live Like You Were Dying,” which became a finalist for the Southern Book Critics Circle Award. His essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Dallas Morning News and the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
A graduate of Auburn University, Michael also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University. He lives in Alabama with his wife, Melanie.
His latest novel, Man in the Blue Moon, is based on a true story about a man on the run for murder who was shipped in a crate to his grandfather's family in the Florida Panhandle. The novel was named one of the Best Books of 2012 by Publishers Weekly and received the Book of the Year Award for Fiction by the Alabama Library Association. Man in the Blue Moon was also named a top three book club recommendation by the independent bookseller's association.
While working in the pharmaceutical industry and taking night classes with author Tim McLaurin at North Carolina State University, Michael started the story that would eventually become his first novel, A Place Called Wiregrass. The debut book won the Christy Award for Best First Novel.
Michael’s second novel, Slow Way Home, was compared to the work of Harper Lee and Flannery O’Connor by the Washington Post. It was nationally ranked as one of the top three recommended books by the American Booksellers Association and named one of the best novels of the year by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
Michael is also the author of a novella based on the Grammy-nominated song “Live Like You Were Dying,” which became a finalist for the Southern Book Critics Circle Award. His essays have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, The Dallas Morning News and the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
A graduate of Auburn University, Michael also holds an MFA in Creative Writing from Spalding University. He lives in Alabama with his wife, Melanie.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews
May 1, 2017
Michael Morris is an award-winning novelist and a writer’s writer. His descriptions of growing up Southern are spellbinding. The first chapter where Brandon, the narrator, is bullied by his mother’s sadistic boyfriend is as terrifying as it is compelling and when his grandparents have to leave their farm forever to keep him safe, it’s heartbreaking. The book is wonderfully plotted, but more than plot is the language. “She skipped barefoot through the weeds and over small branches. Her paint-chipped toenails brushed across the top of the soil.” And “A mist of rain danced in the air the day I got baptized. The cowboy singers stood under the concrete canopy at the state park right next to a bucket of chicken.” I stayed up so late reading SLOW WAY HOME, my iPad fell out of my hand and onto the bed.
August 3, 2016
I'm not sure how I missed the original publication of this book. I've read two other books by Michael Morris and I loved them, so when he contacted me and told me this one was just released on audio, it went right on that Audible list. Right at the top of it.
So here is what you get with Michael. Southern storytelling. Not just Southern, but hot, sticky, humid, jasmine-scented, kudzu-infested, dirty road Southern. His books aren't necessarily in-depth character studies. They are an epic adventure. There's oppression and greedy folks and damaged souls. This tale is one about young Brandon Willard, raised by a mama who hops from man to man, weighed down by her addictions and shattered dreams. With the opportunity of moving to Canada with her latest loser, she dumps Brandon off with her parents and disappears from his life. Brandon finds a stable home with Nana and Poppy and his cousins until his mother shows up wanting him back. His grandparents grab him and run, knowing that the system won't favor them, and establishes a new life in northern Florida, where Brandon learns about God, the KKK and love from a Sister Delores. But as the reader, we know that his past is going to catch up with him.
Morris really knows how to spin a tale, and he also is supremely talented in making me FEEL stuff. Pain, sadness, frustration, joy. That poor child's mother is both enraging and pathetic, and it makes all emotions come alive while listening. The love Brandon receives from others around him is also extremely touching. I've felt this way with all Morris's books.
The narrator for this book, Michael Butler Murray, WAS AMAZING. Really, his performance, which included all kinds of accents and attitudes, brought this book to a whole new level. If you love a good audio, don't miss this.
So here is what you get with Michael. Southern storytelling. Not just Southern, but hot, sticky, humid, jasmine-scented, kudzu-infested, dirty road Southern. His books aren't necessarily in-depth character studies. They are an epic adventure. There's oppression and greedy folks and damaged souls. This tale is one about young Brandon Willard, raised by a mama who hops from man to man, weighed down by her addictions and shattered dreams. With the opportunity of moving to Canada with her latest loser, she dumps Brandon off with her parents and disappears from his life. Brandon finds a stable home with Nana and Poppy and his cousins until his mother shows up wanting him back. His grandparents grab him and run, knowing that the system won't favor them, and establishes a new life in northern Florida, where Brandon learns about God, the KKK and love from a Sister Delores. But as the reader, we know that his past is going to catch up with him.
Morris really knows how to spin a tale, and he also is supremely talented in making me FEEL stuff. Pain, sadness, frustration, joy. That poor child's mother is both enraging and pathetic, and it makes all emotions come alive while listening. The love Brandon receives from others around him is also extremely touching. I've felt this way with all Morris's books.
The narrator for this book, Michael Butler Murray, WAS AMAZING. Really, his performance, which included all kinds of accents and attitudes, brought this book to a whole new level. If you love a good audio, don't miss this.
August 19, 2019
This book was so good! It tugged at my heart, I found Brandon so endearing. It's a story about a young boy named Brandon who has a Mama that struggles to take good care of him. She loves her son, but cannot provide a stable life for him. His grandparents step in and provide a home filled with love. Brandon's Mom comes back to claim her rights and Brandon's grandparent's flee with him to Florida. There he meets good friends and a charming southern baptist preacher. The past always comes calling as Brandon's Mom comes back for him. I highly recommend this book, and will look for others from this talented writer. If you are a Catherine Ryan Hyde fan like I am, you'll enjoy this book!
September 28, 2008
This book opened my eyes to the growing normality of grandparents caring for their grandchildren in America today. The grandparent's rights as guardians is sorely lacking and their love for their grandchildren is not taken into consideration in most costody hearings.
This story is about a young boy whose mother couldn't care for him and him being taken in by his loving grandparents and their fight to keep him going to the extreme when the mother demands her child back again.
The emotions are gripping and the book grabs and holds the reader.
This story is about a young boy whose mother couldn't care for him and him being taken in by his loving grandparents and their fight to keep him going to the extreme when the mother demands her child back again.
The emotions are gripping and the book grabs and holds the reader.
February 17, 2010
this book was about a young buy who is abandoned time and time again, but is surround by so much love from people. At times it is a very very sad book, but has a wonderful ending.
July 3, 2010
A great book that I really enjoyed!
July 1, 2020
I was really looking forward to Slow Way Home. I found it in one of my stash piles of books and it looked like I was going to be able to settle in for a good read. I was mislead. The book is dreadful. The first few pages laid down a good storyline. A young boy, Brandon and his single mother, Sophie are working through numerous problems and battle her addictions (drugs and her attraction to horrid men). Sophie dumps off Brandon at her parents' home and says it's "just going to be for a while" until she and her latest nasty boyfriend get moved to a new town and in to an apartment. Nana and Poppy are so happy to have Brandon in their lives they don't dwell on the fact their daughter is a huge disappointment as a parent. One incident leads to another and just when Nana, Poppy and Brandon have a routine in place and all is well, Sophie comes back in town to claim Brandon. Nana and Poppy make the decision to leave their farm and take Brandon away without a trace. So far, so good.
Then the story leapfrogs in to the Land of Awful Stupid where Brandon begins to make very bad decisions that negatively impact himself as well as Nana and Poppy. The author brings in two solid subplots that could have saved this repetitive, horrid, unbelievable middle of the novel but instead he chooses to tease us with 40 pages or so each of these subplots and then drops them flat without much if any resolution. The author takes the last 10 pages of the book to cover various deaths, marriages, business deals with devastating results, and Brandon appears as a man who we are told has done, this, this and this. By this point I just didn't care and was winding up to hurl this book across the room and into the MUST GO pile of books. The only reason I gave it a 1 star rating is because of the locations and food descriptions and the only reason I finished it is because, I'm grieved to admit, I bought the book.
Then the story leapfrogs in to the Land of Awful Stupid where Brandon begins to make very bad decisions that negatively impact himself as well as Nana and Poppy. The author brings in two solid subplots that could have saved this repetitive, horrid, unbelievable middle of the novel but instead he chooses to tease us with 40 pages or so each of these subplots and then drops them flat without much if any resolution. The author takes the last 10 pages of the book to cover various deaths, marriages, business deals with devastating results, and Brandon appears as a man who we are told has done, this, this and this. By this point I just didn't care and was winding up to hurl this book across the room and into the MUST GO pile of books. The only reason I gave it a 1 star rating is because of the locations and food descriptions and the only reason I finished it is because, I'm grieved to admit, I bought the book.
March 13, 2016
A wonderful story of a young boy whose mother is a slut and when she is not able to keep her son, the grandparents take over and move to Florida to hide him from the mother. The adventure continues and the battle begins. The Grandparents are in jail for having taken out of state like a kidnapping but the mother goes back to her bad way of life and the boy is taken from her and the adventure begins a good story of family love.
March 18, 2010
Oh man, I seem to be caught in a string of sad human experiences. Yet another book about a child whose life is in constant flux because of stupid adults mistakes and missteps. And somehow kids manage to live through it all, one way or another. And they say youth is wasted on the young. Sometimes adults manage to make a bigger mess of it. What happens to common sense and logic as we age????
December 31, 2008
Mr. Morris is an able story teller. He has a way of presenting each character that makes them almost visible. A touching and sometimes heart-breaking story of a little boy growing up in difficult circumstances, but with loving grandparents who help fill in the gaps.
January 16, 2021
This was just a good feeling read. The author was terrific in portraying the deep emotional feelings of all the characters in this wonderfully written book. This book is a bit over religious but somehow it fits naturally in these southern characters. I'm not sure how I came upon the book. It was just there on my bookshelf. I'm sure glad it was.
August 19, 2017
This story has all the makings of a riveting blockbuster, but for me, it just missed the mark. It deals with the issues surrounding granparents' rights, mothers who follow their destinies, when their destinies are wrapped up in the next available men in their lives, family, and growing up in a less than stable environment.
For me, the story moved way too slowly. And to be honest, if I didn't have the annoying habit of being unable to put down a book without finishing it, this is one I would have walked away from.
For me, the story moved way too slowly. And to be honest, if I didn't have the annoying habit of being unable to put down a book without finishing it, this is one I would have walked away from.
August 5, 2010
Great read, easy and compelling. Although there is a portion that is somewhat unbelievable in who the boy is fostered with, but it is fiction, and it is an interesting perspective from which to see the role of caretakers - a young boy.
April 1, 2016
I enjoyed this book, very sad about a young boy who has a stupid mom
Read
September 9, 2011Chapter 1:
The book starts out as a boy named Brandon describing his mother’s boyfriend, Darrell. Then Brandon, his mother Sophie, and Darrell go to a fancy restaurant where it soon developed how Darrell was abusive to not only Brandon but Sophie as well. It also explained how Sophie’s excessive drinking problem would get her son very worried. The character, Brandon is described to want to run away from the situation that he is usually put in when he is in contact with Darrell. As the chapter goes on, Sophie and Darrell move to Canada so Darrell can get a job working at a factory. Instead of bringing Brandon, the y tell him that he has to stay at his grandparents house until they are situated in their new home but, as time rolls on, Sophie and Darrell never call and Brandon figures that living with his grandparents is going to have to be a “Fresh Start”.
Chapter 2:
In the next chapter, it is describing Brandon’s life without his mother, Sophie. The chapter introduces Brandon’s two cousins, Mac and Mary. It also includes Brandon’s school life a little bit. From the chapter you can tell that Brandon is trying to forget about his mother leaving him but at the end of the chapter, Brandon sees his mother and wants to, “slap her for what she did”. As well, the story shines a little light on his mother saying that she was a dope addict.
Chapter 3:
In chapter three, the story starts to pick up. At one point it is Brandon and his uncle Cecil’s birthday fish fry. At the party, Mary says that Brandon’s mother was trash and a whore. After he persisting for a while, him and Mac are in a old Chevy and Mary is in a wagon connected to them and Brandon hits the gas, and Mary goes right into hog manure. At the end of the chapter, Sophie comes to the farm and says that she is fixed and met a man in Canada who wants to get married and she demanded that Brandon come back with her but, Brandon’s grandmother, Nana denied her and slapped her. When it was all said and done, she said she would bring Nana to court to get Brandon back.
Chapter 4:
In the fourth chapter, Nana
Chapter 5:
In the Fifth chapter, the “higher-ups” came to the school. It turned out that Senator from the 3rd chapter was one of them. Also, Brandon’s mom showed up at the school trying to get Brandon. As she was just about to, Nana came and made his mom leave. Later in the chapter, Nana and Poppy got a lawyer. At the end of the chapter, Brandon has to go in front of a judge w/ the lawyer and explain what is life was like with his mom and how it differed to life with his grandparents.
Chapter 6:
In the sixth chapter, it changed my opinion on Brandon’s mother. After going in front of the judge, Brandon was made to meet his mother and a child service administrator at a place of his and his grandmother’s choice (Dairy Queen). Every time they met, his mother would show up drunk or high. It was implied when Brandon thought, “I could faintly smell the scent of Jack Daniels and Listerine.” After a couple of visits, his mother would make excuses on why she was late and I was led to believe that she was getting drunk before she came.
Chapter 7:
In the seventh chapter, it starts off giving you the clue that Nana and Poppy are taking Brandon farther away from his mother. You really start to understand when they are at a boiled peanut vendor and Brandon starts sweating and acting frantic when a highway patrolman comes. As the chapter goes on, it explains how Brandon, Nana, and Poppy got used to their new lives. Also, Brandon made a friend who he related to in a way that he had never before.
Chapter 8:
In the eighth chapter, it starts off with Brandon getting a bike when he wakes up on Christmas day. Also, when Nana, Poppy, and him go to Beau’s house, Nana started making Brandon’s plate and asked if he wanted ham, but it was cold and she remembered that he doesn’t like cold ham and Brandon started thinking did his mother even know that. As the chapter goes on, Brandon, Beau, and Josh help out Beau’s Grandmother by helping clean up the used item store that his grandmother owned. They found a hat (that was owned by Beau’s Grandmother who was in the Klu Klutz Klan) and chased Josh around with it. Near the end of the story, they road down to Allen’s, Beau and Josh’s uncle, house and the book finally led the reader to the conclusion that most of the people in Beau’s family is in the KKK. At the end of the chapter, Brandon wakes up to see Nana and Poppy outside talking to a police officer and Brandon is afraid that they are finally found out and they will go to jail.
Chapter 9:
At the start of the ninth chapter it slowly develops that Johnny, died in a car crash. As it goes on, it tells how Beau’s mother has painkillers near her at all times and how she is bed ridden. Also, in the chapter, it goes on to explain how Beau and Josh treat life without their father. At the end of the chapter, Nana brings the three boys to Nap’s corner, where she and Beau’s mother work. When they get there, a police officer has a conversation with her and just as they are about to leave, the police officer said, “I will be seeing you again.”
Chapter 10:
In the tenth chapter, Sister Delores helps out Bonita, Josh, and Beau’s life and with coping. When Johnny died Sister Delores (the wife of the cook at Nap’s corner) filled in and did as much possible to help them out. As the chapter goes on, the story explains that Beau resents Sister Delores. Way later in the chapter, as soon as Mama Rose found out that Sister Delores was “friends” with, Beau, Josh, and Bonita, she fainted. When she woke up, she cussed out Sister Bonita. At the end of the chapter, when Sister Delores was driving all the children to their church, Allen’s car went behind then and started revving their engine and when they were next to them, they saw the people with baseball bats yelling obscenities.
Chapter 11:
In the eleventh chapter, Brandon got baptized at the beginning. When it happened Nana and Poppy stayed in their car to watch, and later Sister Delores asked her if she came. When Nana said she did, Sister Delores said that people go through slumps in their life, and church is a way to get over one slump. Also, the police officer that Bonita and Nana met in the 9th chapter is now dating Bonita and he has affected Beau’s personality. At the end of the chapter, God’s Hospital was destroyed by a fire that Beau, Brandon, and Josh saw at the top of the Ferris wheel at the carnival.
Chapter 12:
In the twelfth chapter, Brandon believes that Allen burnt God’s Hospital down and Beau doesn’t want to believe him so he starts being a jerk while in denial. Also, Sister Delores gets help on rebuilding the church from other neighboring churches. Later in the chapter, Beau finally got fed up with Brandon saying that Allen burnt down the church so they decide to go to Allen’s house and ask but, if Brandon doesn’t go, because Allen said the next time Brandon sets foot on his property, he would kill him, Beau and Josh would tell Allen Brandon’s thought. As well as Uncle Cecil isn’t answering the calls when Nana and Poppy call him like they do on a regular basis. They start to believe something is wrong because a woman is answering asking who Nana and Poppy are and they came to the conclusion it was a secretary because they take calls. At the end of the chapter Josh broke his leg while he, Beau, and Brandon where at Allen’s house looking for evidence that Allen burnt God’s Hospital.
Chapter 13:
In the Thirteenth chapter, it was a major part of the story. While Brandon was at a fair downtown he believed that Allen was getting arrested and started to tell Sister Delores. Then, Parker and the other officers went towards Nana. After that, the officers put both Nana and Poppy in the back of the patrol cars. At the end, Brandon was picked up by who was meant to make the reader believe Child Services.
Chapter 14:
It starts off as Brandon getting out of the car and finally stopping at a house in Raliegh, North Carolina and he told that is a foster house and he will be staying for a while. When he wakes up from his first nights sleep, he sees two twins, a little girl, and a bigger kid hovering over him. When they ask why Brandon was there, he made up a story about how he cut a child's tongue off for making fun of him. Later in the chapter, Nairobi Touchton came by the foster house and shared terrible news that Uncle Cecil was paralized and couldn't help Brandon get out. Also, in the chapter, Sister Delores came by and gave Brandon some of his possestions and talked about how everyone back in Abbeville was praying for him, Nana, and Poppy. After Sister Delores left, Brandon was finished crying but Pete, the bigger kid saw an opportunity to make fun of Brandon and say racial slurs. Soon after, Brandon hit the peak of anger and elbowed Pete in the stomach and punched him in the nose and it started to bleed. As the whole foster family was leaving Miss Madelyn said that she was happy that Brandon was leaving to go back with his mother the next day.
Chapter 15:
In the beginning of the fifteenth chapter, Brandon is adjusting to a stable life with his mom. At school he stays "as detached as in Miss Madelyn's house". As the chapter goes on, it says at a birthday party for Kane, Brandon's mother's boyfriend, Nairobi and the other government lady came and questioned Brandon's mother on why she hasn't returned their phone calls concerning Brandon seeing Nana and Poppy. Then, Brandon's mother said that her parents were brain washing him and they shouldn't be allowed to see him because of their actions by "stealing" him away from her. Also, at one part of the chapter, Brandon is woken up in the middle of the night by two bottles breaking in the kitchen. When Brandon looks at the kitchen, he thought he saw Jesus Christ and felt the hug of Nana around him but soon Brandon knows it isn't real because when his mother couldn't see it, it gave that away. As time progressed, Kane, Brandon, and Sophie all went to the mall the day after Thanksgiving to pick out Christmas presents. When they are there, Brandon saw Aunt Lorriene and Marry Madonna there and had to hide his face so they wouldn't see him.
Chapter 16:
In the beginning of the sixteenth chapter, Sophie and Tony are starting to argue. Sophie said that all that Tony and Kane talk about is work and she leaves to go to Cheyenne's house who is assumed to be a drug dealer. How i came to that conclusion was that Kane said that she goes over there to smoke "Wacky Weed". Also, Brandon explained that when she comes back she is laughing all night. Later in the chapter, Brandon asked what prison that Nana and Poppy are in because, he wanted to send them a Christmas letter. As soon as Brandon said that, Sophie flips out and goes into a rage stating how Brandon doesn't love her just like any other man, how she was going to leave, and how Brandon is better off without her in his life. Then, Sophie absolutely changes tunes like she has bipolar disorder, and she comes out of the bathroom she fled to and started dancing with Brandon and laughing. At this point in the book, I can tell that there is absolutely no way that Sophie can get any help so Brandon will probably grow up unlike any other person and be in some way, scarred for life.
Chapter 17:
In the beginning of the seventeenth chapter, Kane was explaining to Brandon that he was going to propose to Sophie and he even showed him the ring and Brandon was really excited. As the chapter goes on however, Kane got called out to fix the owner of Sears t.v. and it would bring him even more buisness in the future so he had to leave the New Year's party. I'm guessing in spite, Sophie turned out to cheat on Kane with Tony. As soon as Brandon sees this going on, he tries to kick everyone out of the party as fast as possible but, one of the guys picked up Brandon and started spinning him until Kane came back and demanded that he stop. Then, Kane asked where Sophie was, Brandon lied and explained that she was having another really bad head ache and she went to go lay down so he didn't have to check on her. Not listening to Brandon, Kane went back to the bedroom and punched Tony in the mouth and had him running out the duplex in only his underwear. As time goes on, Sophie withdraws from everything including her job and got fired after not going for eighteen days. Then, Sophie transfered back to herself at the begining of the book in the mindset of doing anything and lying to anyone. I can tell at the end of the chapter, that Brandon is very upset and resents his mother more than ever.
Chapter 18:
In the eighteenth chapter, Brandon's mom goes off the handle. When she was picking Brandon up late, Brandon said that she lies all the time and probably lied about why she was late. Also, He found a letter from Nairobi at Child Services which said that she couldn't hold Brandon away from seeing Nana and Poppy. Once Sophie, Brandon's mother, was confronted about the letter, she attempted to commit suicide by jumping off the top of the bleachers. By my assumption, she broke her leg. When Brandon went to try and help his mom, she went into deep detail on Brandon's father and why she was kicked out of Nana and Poppy's house. At this point, I'm just waiting for another sin to go in the story.
Chapter 19:
In the nineteenth chapter, Sophie tries to straighten up her life the wrong way. Once Tony got arrested, she started saying that she needed to make "her own destiny". The way she went about doing this however was wrong. She started stealing from Piggly Wiggly's, and Brandon didn't like it at all because of what he thought that Jesus would think. At one point in the story, Nairobi called and Brandon talked to her hesitantly about Nana and Poppy before hanging up. At the very end, Sophie got arrested for trying to steal a necklace so she could pawn it to get Brandon a trampoline.
Chapter 20:
At the beginning of this chapter, Brandon is in the Police Station being interrogated by two police officers. Once they come to the conclusion that he won't talk, the two police officers and a government woman bring him to a place where is lead for me to believe a "special hospital" where they help feeble minded. Once Brandon knows what the place is, he freaks out and passes out after being injected with something to make his body go limp. After about three days of Brandon being there, Sophie finally gave away his information and Nairobi came to tell him that he would be staying with Mrs. Strickland, the senator who met Brandon earlier in the story. Once he is sent to her house, she introduces him as her "new son" to everyone she knew.
The book starts out as a boy named Brandon describing his mother’s boyfriend, Darrell. Then Brandon, his mother Sophie, and Darrell go to a fancy restaurant where it soon developed how Darrell was abusive to not only Brandon but Sophie as well. It also explained how Sophie’s excessive drinking problem would get her son very worried. The character, Brandon is described to want to run away from the situation that he is usually put in when he is in contact with Darrell. As the chapter goes on, Sophie and Darrell move to Canada so Darrell can get a job working at a factory. Instead of bringing Brandon, the y tell him that he has to stay at his grandparents house until they are situated in their new home but, as time rolls on, Sophie and Darrell never call and Brandon figures that living with his grandparents is going to have to be a “Fresh Start”.
Chapter 2:
In the next chapter, it is describing Brandon’s life without his mother, Sophie. The chapter introduces Brandon’s two cousins, Mac and Mary. It also includes Brandon’s school life a little bit. From the chapter you can tell that Brandon is trying to forget about his mother leaving him but at the end of the chapter, Brandon sees his mother and wants to, “slap her for what she did”. As well, the story shines a little light on his mother saying that she was a dope addict.
Chapter 3:
In chapter three, the story starts to pick up. At one point it is Brandon and his uncle Cecil’s birthday fish fry. At the party, Mary says that Brandon’s mother was trash and a whore. After he persisting for a while, him and Mac are in a old Chevy and Mary is in a wagon connected to them and Brandon hits the gas, and Mary goes right into hog manure. At the end of the chapter, Sophie comes to the farm and says that she is fixed and met a man in Canada who wants to get married and she demanded that Brandon come back with her but, Brandon’s grandmother, Nana denied her and slapped her. When it was all said and done, she said she would bring Nana to court to get Brandon back.
Chapter 4:
In the fourth chapter, Nana
Chapter 5:
In the Fifth chapter, the “higher-ups” came to the school. It turned out that Senator from the 3rd chapter was one of them. Also, Brandon’s mom showed up at the school trying to get Brandon. As she was just about to, Nana came and made his mom leave. Later in the chapter, Nana and Poppy got a lawyer. At the end of the chapter, Brandon has to go in front of a judge w/ the lawyer and explain what is life was like with his mom and how it differed to life with his grandparents.
Chapter 6:
In the sixth chapter, it changed my opinion on Brandon’s mother. After going in front of the judge, Brandon was made to meet his mother and a child service administrator at a place of his and his grandmother’s choice (Dairy Queen). Every time they met, his mother would show up drunk or high. It was implied when Brandon thought, “I could faintly smell the scent of Jack Daniels and Listerine.” After a couple of visits, his mother would make excuses on why she was late and I was led to believe that she was getting drunk before she came.
Chapter 7:
In the seventh chapter, it starts off giving you the clue that Nana and Poppy are taking Brandon farther away from his mother. You really start to understand when they are at a boiled peanut vendor and Brandon starts sweating and acting frantic when a highway patrolman comes. As the chapter goes on, it explains how Brandon, Nana, and Poppy got used to their new lives. Also, Brandon made a friend who he related to in a way that he had never before.
Chapter 8:
In the eighth chapter, it starts off with Brandon getting a bike when he wakes up on Christmas day. Also, when Nana, Poppy, and him go to Beau’s house, Nana started making Brandon’s plate and asked if he wanted ham, but it was cold and she remembered that he doesn’t like cold ham and Brandon started thinking did his mother even know that. As the chapter goes on, Brandon, Beau, and Josh help out Beau’s Grandmother by helping clean up the used item store that his grandmother owned. They found a hat (that was owned by Beau’s Grandmother who was in the Klu Klutz Klan) and chased Josh around with it. Near the end of the story, they road down to Allen’s, Beau and Josh’s uncle, house and the book finally led the reader to the conclusion that most of the people in Beau’s family is in the KKK. At the end of the chapter, Brandon wakes up to see Nana and Poppy outside talking to a police officer and Brandon is afraid that they are finally found out and they will go to jail.
Chapter 9:
At the start of the ninth chapter it slowly develops that Johnny, died in a car crash. As it goes on, it tells how Beau’s mother has painkillers near her at all times and how she is bed ridden. Also, in the chapter, it goes on to explain how Beau and Josh treat life without their father. At the end of the chapter, Nana brings the three boys to Nap’s corner, where she and Beau’s mother work. When they get there, a police officer has a conversation with her and just as they are about to leave, the police officer said, “I will be seeing you again.”
Chapter 10:
In the tenth chapter, Sister Delores helps out Bonita, Josh, and Beau’s life and with coping. When Johnny died Sister Delores (the wife of the cook at Nap’s corner) filled in and did as much possible to help them out. As the chapter goes on, the story explains that Beau resents Sister Delores. Way later in the chapter, as soon as Mama Rose found out that Sister Delores was “friends” with, Beau, Josh, and Bonita, she fainted. When she woke up, she cussed out Sister Bonita. At the end of the chapter, when Sister Delores was driving all the children to their church, Allen’s car went behind then and started revving their engine and when they were next to them, they saw the people with baseball bats yelling obscenities.
Chapter 11:
In the eleventh chapter, Brandon got baptized at the beginning. When it happened Nana and Poppy stayed in their car to watch, and later Sister Delores asked her if she came. When Nana said she did, Sister Delores said that people go through slumps in their life, and church is a way to get over one slump. Also, the police officer that Bonita and Nana met in the 9th chapter is now dating Bonita and he has affected Beau’s personality. At the end of the chapter, God’s Hospital was destroyed by a fire that Beau, Brandon, and Josh saw at the top of the Ferris wheel at the carnival.
Chapter 12:
In the twelfth chapter, Brandon believes that Allen burnt God’s Hospital down and Beau doesn’t want to believe him so he starts being a jerk while in denial. Also, Sister Delores gets help on rebuilding the church from other neighboring churches. Later in the chapter, Beau finally got fed up with Brandon saying that Allen burnt down the church so they decide to go to Allen’s house and ask but, if Brandon doesn’t go, because Allen said the next time Brandon sets foot on his property, he would kill him, Beau and Josh would tell Allen Brandon’s thought. As well as Uncle Cecil isn’t answering the calls when Nana and Poppy call him like they do on a regular basis. They start to believe something is wrong because a woman is answering asking who Nana and Poppy are and they came to the conclusion it was a secretary because they take calls. At the end of the chapter Josh broke his leg while he, Beau, and Brandon where at Allen’s house looking for evidence that Allen burnt God’s Hospital.
Chapter 13:
In the Thirteenth chapter, it was a major part of the story. While Brandon was at a fair downtown he believed that Allen was getting arrested and started to tell Sister Delores. Then, Parker and the other officers went towards Nana. After that, the officers put both Nana and Poppy in the back of the patrol cars. At the end, Brandon was picked up by who was meant to make the reader believe Child Services.
Chapter 14:
It starts off as Brandon getting out of the car and finally stopping at a house in Raliegh, North Carolina and he told that is a foster house and he will be staying for a while. When he wakes up from his first nights sleep, he sees two twins, a little girl, and a bigger kid hovering over him. When they ask why Brandon was there, he made up a story about how he cut a child's tongue off for making fun of him. Later in the chapter, Nairobi Touchton came by the foster house and shared terrible news that Uncle Cecil was paralized and couldn't help Brandon get out. Also, in the chapter, Sister Delores came by and gave Brandon some of his possestions and talked about how everyone back in Abbeville was praying for him, Nana, and Poppy. After Sister Delores left, Brandon was finished crying but Pete, the bigger kid saw an opportunity to make fun of Brandon and say racial slurs. Soon after, Brandon hit the peak of anger and elbowed Pete in the stomach and punched him in the nose and it started to bleed. As the whole foster family was leaving Miss Madelyn said that she was happy that Brandon was leaving to go back with his mother the next day.
Chapter 15:
In the beginning of the fifteenth chapter, Brandon is adjusting to a stable life with his mom. At school he stays "as detached as in Miss Madelyn's house". As the chapter goes on, it says at a birthday party for Kane, Brandon's mother's boyfriend, Nairobi and the other government lady came and questioned Brandon's mother on why she hasn't returned their phone calls concerning Brandon seeing Nana and Poppy. Then, Brandon's mother said that her parents were brain washing him and they shouldn't be allowed to see him because of their actions by "stealing" him away from her. Also, at one part of the chapter, Brandon is woken up in the middle of the night by two bottles breaking in the kitchen. When Brandon looks at the kitchen, he thought he saw Jesus Christ and felt the hug of Nana around him but soon Brandon knows it isn't real because when his mother couldn't see it, it gave that away. As time progressed, Kane, Brandon, and Sophie all went to the mall the day after Thanksgiving to pick out Christmas presents. When they are there, Brandon saw Aunt Lorriene and Marry Madonna there and had to hide his face so they wouldn't see him.
Chapter 16:
In the beginning of the sixteenth chapter, Sophie and Tony are starting to argue. Sophie said that all that Tony and Kane talk about is work and she leaves to go to Cheyenne's house who is assumed to be a drug dealer. How i came to that conclusion was that Kane said that she goes over there to smoke "Wacky Weed". Also, Brandon explained that when she comes back she is laughing all night. Later in the chapter, Brandon asked what prison that Nana and Poppy are in because, he wanted to send them a Christmas letter. As soon as Brandon said that, Sophie flips out and goes into a rage stating how Brandon doesn't love her just like any other man, how she was going to leave, and how Brandon is better off without her in his life. Then, Sophie absolutely changes tunes like she has bipolar disorder, and she comes out of the bathroom she fled to and started dancing with Brandon and laughing. At this point in the book, I can tell that there is absolutely no way that Sophie can get any help so Brandon will probably grow up unlike any other person and be in some way, scarred for life.
Chapter 17:
In the beginning of the seventeenth chapter, Kane was explaining to Brandon that he was going to propose to Sophie and he even showed him the ring and Brandon was really excited. As the chapter goes on however, Kane got called out to fix the owner of Sears t.v. and it would bring him even more buisness in the future so he had to leave the New Year's party. I'm guessing in spite, Sophie turned out to cheat on Kane with Tony. As soon as Brandon sees this going on, he tries to kick everyone out of the party as fast as possible but, one of the guys picked up Brandon and started spinning him until Kane came back and demanded that he stop. Then, Kane asked where Sophie was, Brandon lied and explained that she was having another really bad head ache and she went to go lay down so he didn't have to check on her. Not listening to Brandon, Kane went back to the bedroom and punched Tony in the mouth and had him running out the duplex in only his underwear. As time goes on, Sophie withdraws from everything including her job and got fired after not going for eighteen days. Then, Sophie transfered back to herself at the begining of the book in the mindset of doing anything and lying to anyone. I can tell at the end of the chapter, that Brandon is very upset and resents his mother more than ever.
Chapter 18:
In the eighteenth chapter, Brandon's mom goes off the handle. When she was picking Brandon up late, Brandon said that she lies all the time and probably lied about why she was late. Also, He found a letter from Nairobi at Child Services which said that she couldn't hold Brandon away from seeing Nana and Poppy. Once Sophie, Brandon's mother, was confronted about the letter, she attempted to commit suicide by jumping off the top of the bleachers. By my assumption, she broke her leg. When Brandon went to try and help his mom, she went into deep detail on Brandon's father and why she was kicked out of Nana and Poppy's house. At this point, I'm just waiting for another sin to go in the story.
Chapter 19:
In the nineteenth chapter, Sophie tries to straighten up her life the wrong way. Once Tony got arrested, she started saying that she needed to make "her own destiny". The way she went about doing this however was wrong. She started stealing from Piggly Wiggly's, and Brandon didn't like it at all because of what he thought that Jesus would think. At one point in the story, Nairobi called and Brandon talked to her hesitantly about Nana and Poppy before hanging up. At the very end, Sophie got arrested for trying to steal a necklace so she could pawn it to get Brandon a trampoline.
Chapter 20:
At the beginning of this chapter, Brandon is in the Police Station being interrogated by two police officers. Once they come to the conclusion that he won't talk, the two police officers and a government woman bring him to a place where is lead for me to believe a "special hospital" where they help feeble minded. Once Brandon knows what the place is, he freaks out and passes out after being injected with something to make his body go limp. After about three days of Brandon being there, Sophie finally gave away his information and Nairobi came to tell him that he would be staying with Mrs. Strickland, the senator who met Brandon earlier in the story. Once he is sent to her house, she introduces him as her "new son" to everyone she knew.
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August 18, 2011 A brilliant novel about a eight year old boy named Brandon Willard who started off living with his mother and her boyfriend Darrell in North Carolina, but after an argument between Brandon and Darrell over supper about an uncooked streak. His mother thinks it would be better for Brandon to live his grandparents in Raleigh,Carolina. As his mother and Darrell headed for Canada in search for work and a new life without Brandon.
For a little more than a year Brandon enjoys living carefree with his grandparents like going fishing with his grandfather just about every Friday they would catch fish as his grandfather talk about the good old days or about a new hog he bought. With his cousins living next door to Brandon on their farm in North Carolina. Brandon would get off the bus and after drinking a Pepsi his grandmother gave to him every day after school Brandon would run next door and play with his cousins. In this time Brandon don’t think about his mother much until one day when Brandon got off the bus after school he noticed a women with larger sun glasses and blonde hair in a beat down car that drove off as Brandon made his way to his house. As the week went by Brandon did not see this mystery women until one day after school when Brandon was studding his spelling words in his grandfather’s old Chevrolet, his mother showed up demanding to see Brandon. After not speaking to him for over a year,Brandon grandmother refused to letting her see him as Brandon watched form afar in his grandfather’s old Chevrolet as his mother turned around and yelled in the safety of her car that she’ll “SEE THEM IN COURT!” that next week Brandon’s grandparents found a layer from the Child Advocacy Network or CAN named Nairobi Touchdown. As Brandon stood in the courtroom the judge just asked one question “where would you like to live?” All Brandon could say is “a place where my mama and grandparents get along.” Weeks past and no word for the judge, nothing seemed wrong until one day after school as Brandon got off the bus his grandmother wasn’t waiting for him with a Pepsi in the driveway like she always does, she was sitting on the porch with his grandfather both of them in their best clothes in his mind Brandon know the government women was coming to house to day to tell his grandparents that Brandon’s mother had won the crusade battle for Brandon. Brandon’s grandparents ignored the law and fled to Abbieville ,Florida with Brandon.
When they arrived to this new place they arrived there as new people the Davidson no longer the Willard family. A few week later they feel in to a routine as Brandon’s grandfather got a job at the new marina and his grandmother got a job at a restaurant called Nap corner and even Brandon meet a friend name Beau and everything started looking up until that New Year's Eve night as Beau and his little brother Josh spent the night with Brandon that morning a police officer came to the door of Brandon’s RV and his grandfather got the news that Beau’s father died in a car wreak late last night. After many weeks of Beau’ mother laying in bed and crying over her lost husband an African American woman named Sister Delores offered if she would to go to her church named God’s hospital. After Beau stared going to the church with his mother, Brandon was asked if his would like to came. As Brandon came more often Sister Delores started asking him to give food to the needy family with her and after a few month of going to God's Hospital Brandon decided it was time for him to be baptized.
As everything seem to calm to after Beau’s father’s deaf something happened no one saw coming. As Brandon and Beau where on the Ferris wheel Beau spotted a larger cloud of smoke at Dead Mans Curve where Sister Delores’s church stood as it burned to the ground. By the forth of July fair the burning of God’s hospital was in the past of many people but for Sister Delores is was still fresh in her mind. As Brandon’s grandmother helped Sister Delores with her bake sell booth for God’s hospital, Brandon went looking around until he found to much when he noticed Officer Parker and six other Offices closing in on where his grandmother was. As Brandon run throw the crowd to Sister Delores’s booth he stops, by the time Brandon got to his grandmother and told her what was happening it was to late the officers had already arrested her and his grandfather. As Brandon said his goodbyes to his grandparent in the back of his mind he felt like this was all his fault.
The next mouth Brandon had to live in an orphanage with new people that he don’t know and don't want to tell them about his past so he lied like he always when it came to his past, but this time he told them that he was sent to the orphanage for stabbing a boy to deaf and cutting off the boys tunge. As weeks got longer Brandon wondered how his grandparents where doing and by the end of that week he got his answers the day Sister Delores came to visit him telling him that the Lord was on his side and that his grandparents where thinking about him every day. A week after Sister Delores came Brandon’s mother showed up to take him to his new home. When Brandon came to his new home he meet his mother’s new boyfriend named Kane, Kane was different then his mother’s other boyfriends for one he owned a business and for once Brandon got along with Kane it seem like she was making changes in her live for the better this time. Until New Years Eve when Kane told her that he had to work and that when they got into a agreement about how Kane always works then Brandon’s mother said “well if you’d would rather work then spent time with me you can go head and move out” and that was the last time we saw Kane.
After Kane left things when down hill and when bill started pilling up Brandon’s mother started to shop lifting and it worked until rent was due and she thought if they shopped lifted a jewelry store they be able to pay the rent but by the time she got outside the police where outside waiting for her and arrested her. At the police station a government woman talked to Brandon and told him that he going to stay with a friend of governor Strickland named Miss Gina but told Brandon to call her Aunty Gina because she said she was to young to calling her Miss. After a mouth of living with Aunty Gina, his grandparents lawyer Nairobi give Brandon all the letters that his mother never let him see. When it seem like every thing was going to stay like this for ever.It quicky changed when one day after school as Brandon was play outside in the backyard, Aunty Gina called him up to the house to tell him to happiest news his heard in a long time that his grandparents where coming to pick him up and live together.
For a little more than a year Brandon enjoys living carefree with his grandparents like going fishing with his grandfather just about every Friday they would catch fish as his grandfather talk about the good old days or about a new hog he bought. With his cousins living next door to Brandon on their farm in North Carolina. Brandon would get off the bus and after drinking a Pepsi his grandmother gave to him every day after school Brandon would run next door and play with his cousins. In this time Brandon don’t think about his mother much until one day when Brandon got off the bus after school he noticed a women with larger sun glasses and blonde hair in a beat down car that drove off as Brandon made his way to his house. As the week went by Brandon did not see this mystery women until one day after school when Brandon was studding his spelling words in his grandfather’s old Chevrolet, his mother showed up demanding to see Brandon. After not speaking to him for over a year,Brandon grandmother refused to letting her see him as Brandon watched form afar in his grandfather’s old Chevrolet as his mother turned around and yelled in the safety of her car that she’ll “SEE THEM IN COURT!” that next week Brandon’s grandparents found a layer from the Child Advocacy Network or CAN named Nairobi Touchdown. As Brandon stood in the courtroom the judge just asked one question “where would you like to live?” All Brandon could say is “a place where my mama and grandparents get along.” Weeks past and no word for the judge, nothing seemed wrong until one day after school as Brandon got off the bus his grandmother wasn’t waiting for him with a Pepsi in the driveway like she always does, she was sitting on the porch with his grandfather both of them in their best clothes in his mind Brandon know the government women was coming to house to day to tell his grandparents that Brandon’s mother had won the crusade battle for Brandon. Brandon’s grandparents ignored the law and fled to Abbieville ,Florida with Brandon.
When they arrived to this new place they arrived there as new people the Davidson no longer the Willard family. A few week later they feel in to a routine as Brandon’s grandfather got a job at the new marina and his grandmother got a job at a restaurant called Nap corner and even Brandon meet a friend name Beau and everything started looking up until that New Year's Eve night as Beau and his little brother Josh spent the night with Brandon that morning a police officer came to the door of Brandon’s RV and his grandfather got the news that Beau’s father died in a car wreak late last night. After many weeks of Beau’ mother laying in bed and crying over her lost husband an African American woman named Sister Delores offered if she would to go to her church named God’s hospital. After Beau stared going to the church with his mother, Brandon was asked if his would like to came. As Brandon came more often Sister Delores started asking him to give food to the needy family with her and after a few month of going to God's Hospital Brandon decided it was time for him to be baptized.
As everything seem to calm to after Beau’s father’s deaf something happened no one saw coming. As Brandon and Beau where on the Ferris wheel Beau spotted a larger cloud of smoke at Dead Mans Curve where Sister Delores’s church stood as it burned to the ground. By the forth of July fair the burning of God’s hospital was in the past of many people but for Sister Delores is was still fresh in her mind. As Brandon’s grandmother helped Sister Delores with her bake sell booth for God’s hospital, Brandon went looking around until he found to much when he noticed Officer Parker and six other Offices closing in on where his grandmother was. As Brandon run throw the crowd to Sister Delores’s booth he stops, by the time Brandon got to his grandmother and told her what was happening it was to late the officers had already arrested her and his grandfather. As Brandon said his goodbyes to his grandparent in the back of his mind he felt like this was all his fault.
The next mouth Brandon had to live in an orphanage with new people that he don’t know and don't want to tell them about his past so he lied like he always when it came to his past, but this time he told them that he was sent to the orphanage for stabbing a boy to deaf and cutting off the boys tunge. As weeks got longer Brandon wondered how his grandparents where doing and by the end of that week he got his answers the day Sister Delores came to visit him telling him that the Lord was on his side and that his grandparents where thinking about him every day. A week after Sister Delores came Brandon’s mother showed up to take him to his new home. When Brandon came to his new home he meet his mother’s new boyfriend named Kane, Kane was different then his mother’s other boyfriends for one he owned a business and for once Brandon got along with Kane it seem like she was making changes in her live for the better this time. Until New Years Eve when Kane told her that he had to work and that when they got into a agreement about how Kane always works then Brandon’s mother said “well if you’d would rather work then spent time with me you can go head and move out” and that was the last time we saw Kane.
After Kane left things when down hill and when bill started pilling up Brandon’s mother started to shop lifting and it worked until rent was due and she thought if they shopped lifted a jewelry store they be able to pay the rent but by the time she got outside the police where outside waiting for her and arrested her. At the police station a government woman talked to Brandon and told him that he going to stay with a friend of governor Strickland named Miss Gina but told Brandon to call her Aunty Gina because she said she was to young to calling her Miss. After a mouth of living with Aunty Gina, his grandparents lawyer Nairobi give Brandon all the letters that his mother never let him see. When it seem like every thing was going to stay like this for ever.It quicky changed when one day after school as Brandon was play outside in the backyard, Aunty Gina called him up to the house to tell him to happiest news his heard in a long time that his grandparents where coming to pick him up and live together.
June 25, 2019
A lovely story -- heartbreaking and hopeful.
I couldn't help but fall in love with eight-year-old Brandon Willard and ache for all he had to go through. Left behind at the bus station by his mother, she at least cared enough to leave him with his grandparents' phone number. As horrible as being abandoned was it opens the door to his being loved the way every child deserves to be loved. When Brandon's mother finally returns to reclaim him, his grandparents flee with him to keep him safe, setting him on a long journey filled with love, hope, anxiety, and despair.
Michael Morris does a masterful job creating characters so realistic you feel as if they're part of you life. And Morris doesn't paint his characters with shades of just one color. Most are etched and enhanced with multiple hues, allow us to see and recognize that even the most loving have flaws and weaknesses, just as goodness can dimly flash from the most despicable.
I couldn't help but fall in love with eight-year-old Brandon Willard and ache for all he had to go through. Left behind at the bus station by his mother, she at least cared enough to leave him with his grandparents' phone number. As horrible as being abandoned was it opens the door to his being loved the way every child deserves to be loved. When Brandon's mother finally returns to reclaim him, his grandparents flee with him to keep him safe, setting him on a long journey filled with love, hope, anxiety, and despair.
Michael Morris does a masterful job creating characters so realistic you feel as if they're part of you life. And Morris doesn't paint his characters with shades of just one color. Most are etched and enhanced with multiple hues, allow us to see and recognize that even the most loving have flaws and weaknesses, just as goodness can dimly flash from the most despicable.
June 26, 2019
This precious book engages your attention from the first page. Besides being written by the pen it came from the soul. The range of emotions deeply humanizes it. The use of such vibrant Imagery energizes the reader. The eight year old narrator, Brandon, adopted me and never lost me. In spite of his emotional trauma he kept his hope and faith, and never became a spoilt child. What a “little man” he was! The authors skillful weaving of the many social issues of today mingled with Brandon’s steady resolve also gives strength to the reader. NEVER GIVE UP! This book is a compelling page turner amid laughter, tears, anger, frustration, and yes, real heartrending tears. It shows that wherever there is evil, good is not far away. Sister Delores is a great role model for living beyond survival in the Deep South. She is color blind and love happy. Brandon’s clever “killed down in Africa. Ripped right down the middle” was well placed each time, evoking more kudos to him.
May 31, 2025
I would say that this is one of the best books I've read in a long time. It was heart warming and heart wrenching at different times. The author's writing put me right into the story. I felt like I was there and experiencing everything that Brandon and his family experienced. This book reminded me of To Kill A Mockingbird and Where the Crawdads Sing. I literally did not want to put it down. The story follows 8 year old Brandon and his fight to survive living with an unfit mother. When his mother looses custody, Brandon's grandparents step in to give him a loving, wonderful homelife. A year later Brandon's mother returns. This is where Brandon's life changes drastically. The author introduces us to many different characters along the way that have huge impacts on his life. So good! 5 star recommendation!
June 21, 2019
The characters were interesting and it kept me reading. I couldn’t help but think how many kids, these days, are going through this same thing! The author does a great job of conveying the thoughts of the main character, eight-year-old Brandon. I wanted to shout at him, “When are you going to stop making excuses for your mother?!” “When are you going to stop making poor decisions that jeopardize everything people are trying to do for you?!” BUT, then I remember LOVE, and especially love for one’s momma! The book seemed hurried at the end, which is one of my pet peeves, so I couldn’t give it more than 3 stars.
August 19, 2019
The writer did an excellent job of leading the reader to feel as though they see into the mind of the young Brandon. The feelings were so intense that my heart just broke from the pain this young boy endured. It’s unfortunate that the courts would return a child to such a situation when it should have been obvious that the grandparents could provide a more stable home. Again, the author did such a good job at portraying the dilemma the young boy faced while wanting to stay with his grandparents but also craving his mother’s love. So raw.
May 30, 2020
I didn't see how this book could possibly have a positive ending. Brandon had too many horrible things happen to him to come out of it sane and whole. I loved how certain phrases stuck with him: "Every day we got a choice to be pitiful or powerful," "God will never leave you or forsake you," "You've got a whole lot of people who love you and don't forget I'm at the top of the list." These words and the people who originally spoke them to Brandon helped him get through all the trials of abuse, uncertainty, and abandonment.
July 17, 2020
I fell in love with Brandon, a young boy caught in the middle of a custody battle between his grandparents who are raising him and his addicted mother who shows up wanting him back. The novel is written in Brandon's voice and I loved how he has a childlike wonder, strength and determination to love, regardless of what life has thrown at him. The story reminded me of one of my favorite novels, Ellen Foster by Kay Gibbons.
The novel is beautifully written and the characters are quirky, lovable and leap from the pages. If you are a fan of Southern fiction then you just found a gem.
The novel is beautifully written and the characters are quirky, lovable and leap from the pages. If you are a fan of Southern fiction then you just found a gem.
March 9, 2023
Brandon is 8 years old living with his drug addicted mother and a series of abusive boyfriends. When she leaves him at the bus station after calling her parents, he finally finds happiness with his grandparents. A year later, his mother returns and hires a lawyer to get custody. Knowing the past, his grandparents flee with him to Florida. There he makes friends and finally is able to enjoy life. But a trick of fate lands him back with his mother and the misery returns. Brandon is smart and loved by the people he meets along the way, and they reach out to help him get the future he deserves.
November 29, 2023
I loved this unexpected find! Although sometimes disturbing in its portrayal of a child living or surviving, with parents and step-parents who struggle with their own substance abuse issues, it is truly a story of how love invested in a child reaps a harvest of good in future years. However cheesy this may sound, the truth of it is actually the theme of the book - overcoming hardships, investing love into others, watching the seeds of encouragement sprout in young hearts, it's all in there. Well worth your time to read, especially if you are in need of encouragement.
February 17, 2018
Fabulous Book For Free
This book was such a great buy, FREE!. The book follows the life of Third grader, Brandon as he is estranged from his wayward mother. Brandon is taken in by his grandparents but runs in to so many complications when his mother tries to get him back. Such a good book.
This book was such a great buy, FREE!. The book follows the life of Third grader, Brandon as he is estranged from his wayward mother. Brandon is taken in by his grandparents but runs in to so many complications when his mother tries to get him back. Such a good book.
May 12, 2018
This book was sad but very real. I don't really enjoy reading books like this. To me reading is for entertainment and stories that are too realistic and bittersweet are just not my idea of entertainment. But stories like this deserve to be told and the sad truth of it is there are people living this reality everywhere.
October 4, 2020
I really enjoyed this story about a young boy growing up in a tough situation and finding happiness through his grandparents, neighbors and friends. It is about how to take the lemons in life and make lemonade and it is beautifully written. It also captures racism and religion in an interesting way.
September 7, 2025
This book has been on my shelf for a while. I had pretty low expectations but I really enjoyed it. It reminded me in a way of The Other Wes Moore, in that it emphasized how important supportive adults are in the life of a child, especially one from a chaotic home. It championed the role of grandparents, social workers, clergy and random strangers. Very Moving.
November 4, 2017
Morris made me feel as though I was an 8 year old boy growing up in the south. I felt his pain, his fear, his joy, his innocence, and the innate desire we all have to belong. Loved the character development and the way the story unfolded. Love Morris's writing style.
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