Peppertide

by Jack Weyland

Jack Weyland has written a book that speaks eloquently of the tide of family loyalty that rises within each of us no matter how difficult our family life may be.

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

181 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 1983

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

[Kassandra Merritt · Rating 5 out of 5]

BR 8
Kassie Merritt
Author-Jack Weyland
181 pages

PepperTide
The author of this book is Jack Weyland. He is a well known LDS fiction writer, his book are very popular because they are clean and appropriate for all ages. In PepperTide the main characters are Jimmy, Jill, Ryan, Zina, Logan, and Amy. Jimmy PepperTide is a man who has been through a lot, when he was a boy his main goal was to protect his brother and sister, Jill and Ryan, he wanted to stay together and not be separated. Jill is a fun loving girl who knows jimmy better than anyone and grows up to be an active member in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. At the beginning of the book Ryan is just a little boy who misses his Mom and Dad, he also believes everything Jimmy says. Zina and Logan are Jimmy’s foster parent. Zina is a strong willed women who is very organized. Logan is also organized he believes everything has it’s place and he is also a man if little words. Amy is a girls basketball coach and loves each one of her players and strives to strengthen their weaknesses. The reasons why I loved this book is because it has great believable characters and it has great settings.

The characters in this book are so relatable, although I may not have the same trials as they do they still have them. The trials they have actually exist the are not fake like in a fiction book, they are real life problems that many people have. An example of this is on page 52, “ ‘I miss her , bishop. We don’t have a mother or father anymore. It’s just the three of us....’.” As you can see they don’t have problems like fighting a dragon. Don’t get me wrong those are good books but it is nice to read something real. The final reason why I like this book is because of the way the setting is described. For example on page 102 it says, “I lived in a singles complex, complete with swimming pool volleyball court and coed sauna.” Jack Wetland describes the setting without giving you so much information that you get bored but he gives you enough to be interesting and so you know what's going on.

This book will keep you reading until you finish it. I definitely recommend this book to anyone looking for a easy read. You will finish it without realizing you started it. Once again I love this book because of the relatable characters and the way he describes the setting.

[Alyssa G. 5 · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book PepperTide by Jack Weyland is about a man named Jimmy. The book starts out of him being a child, and you follow him as he grown up to be an adult. Jimmy´s parents get a divorce. The kids lived with there dad, but he was always gone for work. One day his dad left for a work trip, and never came back. Jimmy got a little job to earn barley enough money for the three of them to get by. They grew up like for a little while, then they got caught and put into foster care and were taken to families. But they were different families, and none of them were happy about, but there was no negotiating, they tried. At first he hated this family, but then eventually started having feeling for them and loving them. When he got older and moved out of the house, he got a job as a comedian. He went on a trip to St. George for a comedian show and met this girl walking her dog. They became really good friends and eventually started dating. Her name was Amy and she was Mormon. Jimmy really liked her and asked if she would marry him. They were married in the temple. After life had been going so well, he got a call from his dad saying that he would like to see and talk to him. Jimmy wasn't sure what he should do.....
I would rate this book a 5 out of 5 stars. I enjoyed it, and he was really good at explaining the characters feelings in a way that I felt like I was that person. Some parts of the book were really sad, but they fixed everything out. It makes me glad that I have loving parents that take care of me and love me. I was really sucked into the book, and it was really well written. It had a great vocabulary which made it more interesting. Jack Weyland is a really good author and I am looking forward to reading more of his books. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

[Joelle Vance · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really like the author Jack Weyland. I have read many of his books and loved them. This one in particullar was not my favorite, but I still enjoyed it. In this book there's a great message about forgiveness. Jimmy the main character, and his brother and sister are left at home while their father is working as a truck driver. He always comes back for them, but not this time. They all get put into foster homes. Jimmy is sent to a strict home with lots of rules. Afer a while he comes to love his foster father, Logan,but a couple of years later when Jimmy is about 18, Logan gets cancer and dies. Logan's real son basically kicks him out. Jimmy goes to Las Vegas and gets mixed up in some wrong things. He is way off track in his life but he is able to be forgiven and become better. He mets this girl Amy and ends up marrying her.

His father ends up finding JImmy's number and asking him and his sister to visit. This is really hard for Jimmy, because he hasn't forgiven his father for not coming back. Jimmy and his sister go out to Wyoming where their father lives. He acts like nothing happened and tries to make up for all the time they have missed. Jimmy still wont forgive his father because he blames all his problems on him leaving them as children. They go camping and finally they start talking and in the end Jimmy is able to forgive his father. If you like books that have good messages you might like one of Jack Weyland's books.

[Kim]

I love this story. It is a story about love and heartache and mistakes and forgiveness. About losing yourself but being able to find a way back no matter the circumstances. However I feel like my life more closely resembles the life of Ryan than that of Jim. Perceived to have the perfect life but having problems just like everyone else. I feel that this was one of Jack Weyland's best stories because it let you grow up with the main character and experience both his grief and his joy. Overall a great and easy read.

[Connie Williams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping for a light read when I checked this out at the library. I've heard a lot about Jack Weyland but never had read him. This story was far from "light" at the beginning. I felt so sad for these kids -- their Dad leaving them (though he thought he was coming back), them not knowing what was going on, being separated from each other ...

The end was much better but I'm not sure I need more Jack Weyland. Anyone have a specific title to recommend?

[Lynae · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve always loved Jack Weyland, but this book was only okay. Not as good as some of his other novels. Didn’t seem to have a strong arc to its plot line so the final culmination for the main character was a bit of a letdown. And I read the entire book and still don’t know why it is titled PepperTide. The protagonist’s name is Jimmy Pepper, but I’m not sure what the Tide part was added for??

[S.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

weyland always delivers, :)

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

this one is very wonderful and i would recommend it to anyone!

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet story about a broken family and how each child overcomes. I really liked this a kid.

[Magdalena · Rating 5 out of 5]

very sad but very good

[Shelleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked this one. The funniest one he has written.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good story. It was inspirational and reminds us that anyone can change for the better if they really set their mind to it.

[Lani · Rating 5 out of 5]

foster care, little bro dies on mission, comedian with raunchy jokes, dad finally wants to see the kids

[MQR]

Friends dont let friends read Weyland. Why did I read this book. Well I liked Deborah, and the Phone Call, so I had some hope. But no. Weyland is a satirical and sinister writer. Yes I have met him in person. No. Thank goodness he seems to be ignorant of his own faults. He is actually very funny and friendly. Probably I would say, a lot like the main character in this book. I even wondered if he was writing an autobio here. Or worse, maybe exposing some private personal confession of a friend or acquaintance. I believe the sinisterial and satiricism is a result of conditioning. Don't read this book unless you have a psychology degree or perhaps have been through enough counseling etc to understand conditioning. I believe that it is the common thread that runs through all of Weylands books. I laughed and cried when I just wasnt going through shock. At least his books read like a Judy Blume novel, so an easy skim, over completely obnoxious side commentary and dialogue. So no I am not sharing my copy that I picked up at a thrift store. I am taking note of certain details for my own personal research on convoluted western lifestyles and then throwing it in the trash.

[Tami]

Fun book.