 | Price Comparisons: Rental | | Sorry, the textbook you were looking for is not available as Rental, at any of the stores we searched. | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com | We Can Bury the Past, But It Never Really Dies Dear Listener, I am often asked where my stories come from. I'm not always sure. Sometimes a story just comes to me in waves (or trickles) of inspiration and oftentimes it's not until the very end of the book that I see where my characters are taking me. This is such a tale. Grace is the story of a young runaway girl and the boy who hides her from a frightening world too large and unfathomable for him to comprehend. It is also about two brothers and the love that binds them together through difficult times. In some ways this is the most autobiographical of all my novels. When I was eight years old my father lost his job, and we sold our home in beautiful and aptly named Arcadia, California, to move to a poor neighborhood in Utah and into a rundown home like the one I describe in the story. I have no fond memories of that time. Not one. I wanted to go home. I've found my home now, and it has nothing to do with the place where I live, and everything to do with the family I love. Sincerely, Richard Paul Evans |
Average Customer Rating:   THOUGHT PROVOKING This short, seemingly innocent book really packs a punch. Told through the eyes of a fourteen year old boy, it has the passion, sense of justice, and perspective found in a young, emerging adult. With a preface including the "Little Match Girl" and a brief sketch of the development of children's rights, the young man is introduced to dark realities of childhood that many bear and many disbelieve.
Our hero, Eric, appears to be the prototype of his decade (50's and 60's) in which people are described as "children playing with hand grenades". Just as this young man tries to cope with a situation larger than himself, his society is portrayed as shallow, blind, rule bound, and lacking the abiltiy or desire to seriously deal with the whitewashed decay that it chose to ignore.
While the book is a tragedy, the epilogue gives hope as humanity is cabable of learning from its past mistakes. More Complex Than A Simple Juvenile Story There are tough issues dealt with here, making it more complex than a juvenile book.
Young Eric meets Grace as she's in a dumpster foraging for food. Through most of the story it isn't clear why she ran away from home other than she isn't crazy about her step father. Unbeknownst to his parents, she is now staying in a fort in Eric's yard made by him and his 10-year old brother, Joel. Eric sneaks food to her and buys her a space heater to keep her warm in her "new" home.
Grace is sick and not knowing what it is, Eric and Joel rummage around in older folks' medicine cabinets looking for penicillin for her. It's amazing how long she stays in their clubhouse without his folks figuring things out especially with all the flyers and posters going up around town relating to her, as well as a newspaper article and an announcement at school.
There is some mirth here such as in the part about Librium, the "happy pills" that Joel wanted to give to his mother. "Mom could use some of these."
There's some sadness too. Deep sadness. Hate as well. Grace: A Novel I have not enjoyed reading this book, It just seems to drag on, I am still trying to finish it. Grace by Richard Paul Evans Grace by Richard Paul Evans is the fictional story of two teenagers whose chance meeting one evening changes both of their lives forever. Grace, a runaway teenage girl who is sheltered by a somewhat innocent, teenage boy, harbors an ugly secret that threatens to ruin not only her life, but the lives of those around her. As their time together continues, their relationship grows and develops into young love which is threatened when Grace's secret can not longer stay hidden.
Ultimately, Grace is a story about growing up and realizing that sometimes life is not the happy fairy-tale that we envision it to be when we are children. While this was not a book that kept me constantly wanting to turn the page, I did enjoy it. Evans' writing style was engaging and believable.
One of the things that I really liked about this book was the reality factor. Things did not always work out perfectly for the characters. Such is true of life. Sometimes things do happen like we want or expect them too; but many times, they do not. I think that too often in fiction books, the happily ever after ending is too predictable from the start and it seems the protagonists almost always have loving Christian families to support them. Unfortunately, that is not true of real life. Grace resonates with an authenticity that many books lack.
Overall, Grace is an excellent read and I would recommend it to a person of any age. Grace by Richard Paul Evans This was a very good story.
I had a hard time putting this book down
to get other things done.
It was a fast read and a great story....... |  |
Select button not working? 
