By Samuel Miller
- Pub Date: 2024
- Genre: Young Adult, Historical Fiction
- Where I bought this book: Barbara's Bookstore, Lombard, Ill.
- Why I bought this book: Actually, my daughter did, and she let me read it.
A writer from a younger generation tells us this tale of growing up in small-town America, which echoes shades of the country's past and warns it to get its act together for the future.
Miller explores issues of race and class, of myth and reality, of violence and control. It's set in a backdrop of algorithms and apps, texts and social media, viral realities amid summer expectations.
And it throws in a touch of family quarrels, brotherly love, high school cliques, and looming adulthood.
Miller takes on this monster task, and he does it well. His writing is clear and concise; his pacing is solid. He exhibits strong continuity and transitions between chapters without irritating drama.
He just tells the story and makes you want to keep reading.
The core cast of characters is small but powerful, teenagers you know and like, as they struggle with a world that is jumbled and confusing. There's Willie, the so-called Miracle Boy, who was dead for several minutes after being shot and losing an eye. This part is a bit overdone, but it sets the stage for his relationship with his brother, Bones, who had accidentally shot him when both were children.
Bones see himself as his brother's protector and guardian, ensuing that Willie and his eyepatch does not incur the wrath of bullies. Willie loves his brother, but starts to see him as controlling and manipulative.
There's Sarai, a Black girl who recently moved to town; her boyfriend, Joe Kelly, (almost always identified with both names) a scion of one of the town's founding families; Rodney, a attractive girl who is inexplicitly the brothers' best friend. There's parents and town leaders and pastors.
There's the town of Calico Springs, a river city in southern Missouri that's a stand-in for many small towns. It's isolated and insulated. It's remarkably proud of itself, seeing itself as charming unique and its people as a special breed of survivors.
Then there's The Game. Called Manifest Atlas, it's a mysterious phone app that seems to know your secrets and can bring your heart's desires.
Together, these all comb a mystery that threatens to break up friendships and families, and reveal the town's dark if unknown history.
The story unwinds slowly, but once he gets to its climax, Miller shows a remarkable talent for laying bare the soul of this small town, shining a light and trying to brighten its darkness.
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