Wrecker winner!

The winner of Wrecker by Summer Wood is...

nfmgirl

Thanks to all who entered.

Thanks also to the publisher for offering a copy to give away!

red headed book child

Wrecker by Summer Wood (review #120)

Wrecker by Summer Wood

Publisher: Bloomsbury

Genre: Fiction

What an extraordinary novel. I am so glad I signed on to do this tour. Before I go any further here is a description from the TLC Book Tour website.

After foster-parenting four young siblings a decade ago, Summer Wood tried to imagine a place where kids who are left alone or taken from their families would find the love and the family they deserve. For her, fiction was the tool to realize that world, and Wrecker, the central character in her second novel, is the abandoned child for whom life turns around in most unexpected ways. It’s June of 1965 when Wrecker enters the world. The war is raging in Vietnam, San Francisco is tripping toward flower power, and Lisa Fay, Wrecker’s birth mother, is knocked nearly sideways by life as a single parent in a city she can barely manage to navigate on her own. Three years later, she’s in prison, and Wrecker is left to bounce around in the system before he’s shipped off to live with distant relatives in the wilds of Humboldt County, California. When he arrives he’s scared and angry, exploding at the least thing, and quick to flee. Wrecker is the story of this boy and the motley group of isolated eccentrics who come together to raise him and become a family along the way.

This book had a feel to it that everything and nothing happened at the same time. Even though it spanned over 15 years, there was such a simplicity to the way the story was written. It wasn't a traumatic event one after the other, it just seemed that it was life; Wrecker's life. You take it. You leave it. You move on. Each character was touched on a bit and each got their moment in the sun, so to speak. I felt for each of them; Ruth's quirkiness, Melody's need for love, Willow's distance, Johnny's activism and Len's sorrow.

Their link was their love for Wrecker.

I especially felt for Wrecker. I just adored this character from the tough little 3 year old he starts out as to a smart, matter-of-fact, kind adult.

As a mother, this hit home. Summer Wood portrayed a unique blend of family. She carved out her own definition. I liked that Wrecker's biological mother, while in prison, was still very much his mother and not portrayed as a dead beat. She was a young woman who made a mistake and paid for it for 15 years away from her son.

They each cared for Wrecker in their own way and always knew the day would come when his mother would find him. The ending is quite simply life, as it happens; knowing, bittersweet and uneventful.

Review: 6/6

I highly recommend this book. It may not be for everyone but it hit home for me being a mother and putting such importance on family and caring for my child. It was a unique tale filled with a cast of eccentric yet heartwarming characters. It reads quick and when finished I was left a little sad that their story had ended. Summer Wood is a fresh voice in fiction and one I would read again.

Book Club Pick?

Yes. I think the core message here is that you create your own definition of family. That alone would get MY book club buzzing!

Don't miss the other stops on the tour:

Monday, April 18th: Scraps of Life

Tuesday, April 19th: Musings of an All Purpose Monkey

Thursday, April 21st: Book Club Classics!

Friday, April 22nd: Bloggin’ ‘Bout Books

Monday, April 25th: In the Next Room

Tuesday, April 26th: Life in Review

Wednesday, April 27th: Boarding in my Forties

Thursday, April 28th: Red Headed Book Child

Monday, May 2nd: Joyfully Retired

Thursday, May 5th: Rundpinne

Monday, May 9th: Caribousmom

Tuesday, May 10th: Amused by Books

Wednesday, May 11th: I’m Booking It

Author Website:

Summer Wood writes

The publisher has been kind enough to give away one copy of Wrecker to one of my readers. Please leave an email address and reside in the United States please.

Giveaway ends May 5.

Happy reading and as always, thanks for stopping by!

red headed book child