Thank you very much for this 5 star review Christie! I’m humbled.
http://hammocklibrarian.blogspot.com/2013/02/river-way-home-by-jason-wellnitz.html
MY THOUGHTS: Told in the voice and style of an African folk legend, the words float through the air like a tale told ’round the bonfire. This story is a family history passed from father to son, recounting the more recent generations that brought them to the present. No pages are wasted on superfluous babble, but in true man-to-man form, the father gives just the right amount of detail to his child about each family member mentioned.
Like looking down from an airplane on the curves of a mighty river, the stories in retrospect are able to be pieced together to see the flow of the bigger picture. And isn’t that what everyone has wondered? How did I get here? What forces came together to shape what I know as my life?
This was a quick read, one I couldn’t put down until I’d finished. The crazy twists and turns of each creek and stream that flowed into the river of this child’s life were too good to pause, and I was taken by surprise more than once.
In looking back (and re-reading the first chapter), I see that the author sprinkled clues to the ending throughout the book, but I was still caught totally off guard by the ending. And I’ve been thinking and rethinking about the book since. Well done, Mr. Wellnitz!