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The Boone Series #3
Keeping Secrets
The Boone Series is the story of a teenager on the fringes of society. He doesn't have looks, or money, or education going for him, but he's a decent human being trying to grow up with the odds stacked against him. He is often belittled or ignored, but like others out there on the edge of things, he has a story that deserves to be heard. In "Keeping Secrets," we see and hear what is happening from Boone's point of view, just as we do in the first two books in the series, "Pushing Back" and "Matching Scars."
Boone is building a marginal but relatively comfortable life for himself and Frankie when two figures from his past reappear and life becomes irritating and complicated all over again. His old enemy Jerry and his aunt Claire are both making demands on him that he is either unwilling or unable to satisfy, and while he's dealing with them, the old habits his daddy saddled him with continue to strain his relationship with Nancy.
Staying away from Jerry, keeping his aunt at a distance, and trying to reconcile with Nancy all at the same time is difficult enough, but Boone's anger and impulsive nature make it almost impossible. He and Tiny are trying with limited success to carry on Gamaliel's legacy, and some of the residents at the assisted living home are urging him to step out into the world and enjoy himself. Mark, who has become the kind of mentor Boone didn't think he would ever have, offers what he can in the way of support and encouragement, but Boone's own personal history is hard for him to escape. He's continually torn between curiosity about the life he's missing out on and his long-held anger and insecurity.
A crisis on Tiny's farm not only rekindles Boone's old fears that the secrets he's kept for so long are about to come out, but also alters his friendship with Tiny, eliminating one common bond that was holding them together. What seems to be the final blow to his relationship with Nancy, the weight of memories that surround him, and the increasing pressure from all sides to make some kind of move, are all pushing Boone toward a decision he never thought he would make.
Boone is building a marginal but relatively comfortable life for himself and Frankie when two figures from his past reappear and life becomes irritating and complicated all over again. His old enemy Jerry and his aunt Claire are both making demands on him that he is either unwilling or unable to satisfy, and while he's dealing with them, the old habits his daddy saddled him with continue to strain his relationship with Nancy.
Staying away from Jerry, keeping his aunt at a distance, and trying to reconcile with Nancy all at the same time is difficult enough, but Boone's anger and impulsive nature make it almost impossible. He and Tiny are trying with limited success to carry on Gamaliel's legacy, and some of the residents at the assisted living home are urging him to step out into the world and enjoy himself. Mark, who has become the kind of mentor Boone didn't think he would ever have, offers what he can in the way of support and encouragement, but Boone's own personal history is hard for him to escape. He's continually torn between curiosity about the life he's missing out on and his long-held anger and insecurity.
A crisis on Tiny's farm not only rekindles Boone's old fears that the secrets he's kept for so long are about to come out, but also alters his friendship with Tiny, eliminating one common bond that was holding them together. What seems to be the final blow to his relationship with Nancy, the weight of memories that surround him, and the increasing pressure from all sides to make some kind of move, are all pushing Boone toward a decision he never thought he would make.
332 pages, ebook
Published November 15, 2018
About the author
Jim Hartsell
22 books20 followersLike most of us, there are many descriptors that apply to me: husband, father, grandfather, voracious reader, and average hammer dulcimer player are a few of them. I also write, concentrating on Southern fiction and children’s books.
During my seven decades I have lived in a total of three counties, all in East Tennessee, and all contiguous; in one of those counties is the farm that’s been in our family for five generations. I have deep roots in this area. My immediate family consists of my wife of 40+ years, my two children, their spouses, and, at the moment, a total of six grandchildren. I have been assured that six is it, but I remain skeptical. My wife and I share our home on House Mountain with a cat and two shelter dogs.
My professional career was spent in education, working with teens in various treatment centers, locked units, residential facilities, and public school alternative classrooms. These decades spent with teens who were characterized as losers at best and dangerous at worst taught me much about resilience, strength, and bravery, and helped form the concept of the main character in the Boone series. It has been said that the problem with stereotypes isn’t that they aren’t true, but that they are incomplete. Certainly this is the case with the young people I spent so much time with, who are more like the rest of us than not.
I have a beautiful family, all the necessities of life plus a few luxuries, a fine circle of friends, and time to write books, play music, and enjoy the moments as they present themselves one by one. By any measure that matters to me, I am a very wealthy man.
During my seven decades I have lived in a total of three counties, all in East Tennessee, and all contiguous; in one of those counties is the farm that’s been in our family for five generations. I have deep roots in this area. My immediate family consists of my wife of 40+ years, my two children, their spouses, and, at the moment, a total of six grandchildren. I have been assured that six is it, but I remain skeptical. My wife and I share our home on House Mountain with a cat and two shelter dogs.
My professional career was spent in education, working with teens in various treatment centers, locked units, residential facilities, and public school alternative classrooms. These decades spent with teens who were characterized as losers at best and dangerous at worst taught me much about resilience, strength, and bravery, and helped form the concept of the main character in the Boone series. It has been said that the problem with stereotypes isn’t that they aren’t true, but that they are incomplete. Certainly this is the case with the young people I spent so much time with, who are more like the rest of us than not.
I have a beautiful family, all the necessities of life plus a few luxuries, a fine circle of friends, and time to write books, play music, and enjoy the moments as they present themselves one by one. By any measure that matters to me, I am a very wealthy man.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 26, 2018
Boone is back!
Jim Hartsell’s third installment in the Boone series does not disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed Pushing Back (Book 1) and Matching Scars (Book 2). I was really looking forward to sitting down with my old friend, Boone Hammond, once more to hear about how his young life was progressing. Keeping Secrets is just as strong as the first two books and continues to showcase Hartsell’s amazing talent for writing first-person narrative.
Boone has matured a bit in this installment. He turns 18 and starts to take on more personal responsibility. He’s thinking a little more like an adult, but his troubled and tragic past have stunted (and twisted) his psychological development to the point that he sometimes finds difficulty navigating normal, everyday encounters with other people in his life. You really need to get acquainted with Boone through the first two books to fully appreciate what he has become as he enters adulthood. He has been forced to deal with many things that should never confront a child and those things have made him the young man he is in this book. He remains flawed and incomplete, but there’s good in him. You like him despite the emotional and psychological baggage that has been piled on him by things that have pummeled him over the years – many of which he harbors as secrets too shameful to share, even with those closest to him.
I flew through this book, unable to stop between chapters. I loved it. I hope we’ve not heard the last from Boone. As this volume ended, I could almost see the next chapter peeking over the horizon.
Notes to parents : There is a little more profanity in this installment of the Boone series, but it is of the mild variety and it is in keeping with the personalities of the characters. There is a small amount of male/female romance going on, but nothing explicit, tasteless or offensive. I would probably put this in the PG-13 category.
Jim Hartsell’s third installment in the Boone series does not disappoint. I thoroughly enjoyed Pushing Back (Book 1) and Matching Scars (Book 2). I was really looking forward to sitting down with my old friend, Boone Hammond, once more to hear about how his young life was progressing. Keeping Secrets is just as strong as the first two books and continues to showcase Hartsell’s amazing talent for writing first-person narrative.
Boone has matured a bit in this installment. He turns 18 and starts to take on more personal responsibility. He’s thinking a little more like an adult, but his troubled and tragic past have stunted (and twisted) his psychological development to the point that he sometimes finds difficulty navigating normal, everyday encounters with other people in his life. You really need to get acquainted with Boone through the first two books to fully appreciate what he has become as he enters adulthood. He has been forced to deal with many things that should never confront a child and those things have made him the young man he is in this book. He remains flawed and incomplete, but there’s good in him. You like him despite the emotional and psychological baggage that has been piled on him by things that have pummeled him over the years – many of which he harbors as secrets too shameful to share, even with those closest to him.
I flew through this book, unable to stop between chapters. I loved it. I hope we’ve not heard the last from Boone. As this volume ended, I could almost see the next chapter peeking over the horizon.
Notes to parents : There is a little more profanity in this installment of the Boone series, but it is of the mild variety and it is in keeping with the personalities of the characters. There is a small amount of male/female romance going on, but nothing explicit, tasteless or offensive. I would probably put this in the PG-13 category.
March 6, 2020
In this captivating novel, the reader sees the world through the eyes of a young man trying to become more than his abusive family prepared him to be. Deserted by his mother and beaten by his father, Boone Hammond finally discovers friendship, kindness, and trust after his father’s death. Hartsell’s novel deftly connects an insular Appalachian community with the wider world as Boone’s horizons expand. Assigned the job of collecting the life stories of elderly residents of an assisted care center, Boone learns what it means to be responsible for others as he experiences emotions other than anger and fear.
There are no dramatic car chases or death-defying moments in the pages of Hartsell’s novel, but compelling characters and simple, clean writing make this book difficult to put down. Even though this is the third book in the Boone series, it can be read on its own; Hartsell weaves in just enough details from the previous novels to show how Boone got to this point in his young life.
With new friends, his beloved dog Frankie, and a taste of love, Boone Hammond could embark on many more adventures, and I would read them all.
There are no dramatic car chases or death-defying moments in the pages of Hartsell’s novel, but compelling characters and simple, clean writing make this book difficult to put down. Even though this is the third book in the Boone series, it can be read on its own; Hartsell weaves in just enough details from the previous novels to show how Boone got to this point in his young life.
With new friends, his beloved dog Frankie, and a taste of love, Boone Hammond could embark on many more adventures, and I would read them all.
August 15, 2018
This third book in the series is another engrossing chapter in Boone's life. As he nears adulthood, Boone has become more mature; he has a responsible job, a love interest, and is now (sometimes) willing to take advice from others. However, he still reverts to self-doubts and acts out in ways directly related to earlier traumas, but he can now analyze these episodes and learn from them.
As in the two previous books, there are dramatic events that affect Boone as well as seemingly insignificant happenings that help shape his life and his future. As in the two previous books, the reader inhabits the mind of a damaged young man through convincing first-person narrative that is both authentic and consistent. The book's conclusion leaves the reader to wonder where Boone is going from here -- literally and figuratively. I hope there's a sequel to find out.
The only caveat I'd offer prospective readers is that the three books in the series should be read in order as significant events and characters aren't repeated in each book to better understand Boone's attitudes and actions..
As in the two previous books, there are dramatic events that affect Boone as well as seemingly insignificant happenings that help shape his life and his future. As in the two previous books, the reader inhabits the mind of a damaged young man through convincing first-person narrative that is both authentic and consistent. The book's conclusion leaves the reader to wonder where Boone is going from here -- literally and figuratively. I hope there's a sequel to find out.
The only caveat I'd offer prospective readers is that the three books in the series should be read in order as significant events and characters aren't repeated in each book to better understand Boone's attitudes and actions..
October 25, 2021
Keeping Secrets by Jim Hartsell, book 3 in the Boone series. Keeping Secrets is a great read. I am thoroughly enjoying this series, but you really need to start with Book 1, Pushing Back to understand Boone’s background. The message of this series explores how abuse can affect a child, in this case a teen. However, one’s background does not have to define who they become provided there is loving guidance and grace. Despite his upbringing, which was filled with a lot of fear, Boone has a sense of responsibility and a determined self-reliance. His father’s verbal abuse from the past still rings in his head, usually leading to poor decisions. But when he can hear the other voices in his life, he recognizes their value and is able to move in a more positive direction. Boone is coming of age and with the resources provided to him by the late Gamaliel, he prepares to discover the world outside of his small Tennessee town.
March 14, 2023
In Keeping Secrets, Boone really starts to mature. He begins helping at an assisted-care facility; he moves to better housing; he still has anger issues, but he’s also starting to develop good friendships with several other people. But as he expands, he becomes more uncertain about how to maintain control over some of his darker secrets. It’s time to break out of his shell and begin better understanding the world. As true with earlier books in the series, there’s plenty of action, a strong plot, and an intriguing number of plot twists and turns, all conveyed through convincing dialog and story-line. Highly recommended! I’m off now to get the fourth book in the series, wherein I anticipate Boone begins encountering a world much larger than the one he started in.
March 20, 2020
This is the third in the Boone series, and I hope it’s not the last!
Boone is a young man by this time, on his own, making his way in world with his dog, Frankie, who is named after his deceased brother. The rest of his family is scattered or dead and they have never done him any favors. He does have some good friends and some staunch advocates, however. They will help him as much as he can—if he doesn’t push them all away.
We’re on his side as he deals with his emotional problems, the aftermath of his childhood traumas, and we cheer at every success.
You’ll be sorry to have this book end. I know I was!
I recommend you read them in order.
I was given this book to do an honest review.
Boone is a young man by this time, on his own, making his way in world with his dog, Frankie, who is named after his deceased brother. The rest of his family is scattered or dead and they have never done him any favors. He does have some good friends and some staunch advocates, however. They will help him as much as he can—if he doesn’t push them all away.
We’re on his side as he deals with his emotional problems, the aftermath of his childhood traumas, and we cheer at every success.
You’ll be sorry to have this book end. I know I was!
I recommend you read them in order.
I was given this book to do an honest review.
May 31, 2018
An amazing read
If you haven't met Boone yet, shame on you. Jim Hartsell has created a compelling character with all the flaws and failings most experienced in their youth. With a storytelling style that calls to mind Mark Twain, the author takes the reader on a journey through the struggles of a boy growing into manhood in the most difficult circumstances. Make sure you start with Pushing Back and Matching Scars before you delve into the Secrets of Boone. You won't regret a moment spent in the rural landscape of East Tennessee and the World of Boone.
If you haven't met Boone yet, shame on you. Jim Hartsell has created a compelling character with all the flaws and failings most experienced in their youth. With a storytelling style that calls to mind Mark Twain, the author takes the reader on a journey through the struggles of a boy growing into manhood in the most difficult circumstances. Make sure you start with Pushing Back and Matching Scars before you delve into the Secrets of Boone. You won't regret a moment spent in the rural landscape of East Tennessee and the World of Boone.
February 10, 2019
This is the third installment, but hopefully not the last, in the Boone series. Boone is growing up both physically and mentally. He is still struggling to overcome his anger issues but I see him truly making an effort for the most part in this book. I found myself pulling for him and cheering him on, then suddenly wanting to take him to the woodshed for his choices.
I hope the author is planning a book four because this one ended way too soon.
Even though this is a coming of age book I do not recommend it for those under eighteen.
I hope the author is planning a book four because this one ended way too soon.
Even though this is a coming of age book I do not recommend it for those under eighteen.
March 12, 2021
Boone is such an engaging young man, as I gradually and happily discovered in the first two books of this series. As his maturing character traits are revealed throughout “Keeping Secrets,” the more I admire him. Book 3 doesn’t disappoint! I am especially intrigued at how Boone will eventually deal with Nancy’s ongoing struggles, his sister’s situation, his continuing friendships with Mark and Tiny, and the bond he has formed with another elderly gentleman at the “home.” Love this series, and I am anxiously awaiting Book 4 to answer those questions!
July 4, 2021
Many secrets
I enjoyed Boone’s growth, but have enjoyed how real he is. This is a great book, even better than the first two. I am so glad Mr. Hartsell has written another book.
I enjoyed Boone’s growth, but have enjoyed how real he is. This is a great book, even better than the first two. I am so glad Mr. Hartsell has written another book.
June 1, 2023
Can’t get enough of this series!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews