Excellent well written story about a boy learning about both sides of the south in the 1960’s.
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I thoroughly enjoyed the book Missing Isaac by Valerie Fraser Luesse. The characters were well written and the setting was nicely done. You felt like you were right there with them, feeling their joys and sorrows and cheering them on. If you are looking for a book that will tug on your heart strings and give you a view into the past , Ms. Luesse has successfully taken you there in this book.
The story is one you can relate to as most everyone has dealt with loss and trying to heal from that loss. The way each character handles their personal or shared tragedies gives you a sense of hope that you will be able to heal from you own. Nicely done novel and I look forward to reading more from Ms. Luesse. ( )

Missing Isaac is the story of an unlikely friendship between a young white boy and his father's African American farmhand. Set in the 1960's, this novel opens when Pete is only eleven years old. his dad is trapped in a farming accident and Isaac tries to save him to no avail. Both characters, Isaac and Pete, turn to each other in their grief and become friends. They go fishing together and share their stories. When Isaac goes inexplicably missing, Pete is both distressed and confused. Slowly, he manages to go on with his life. He marries a wonderful young woman, but cannot forget Isaac an his friendship. By accident, Isaac's remains are found in a storm shelter. One of the townspeople comes forward to tell the story of how Isaac was killed as he had stopped the road to help a driver, whose car had broken down. Pet and his wife build a library to honor Isaac's memory.

This is a story of relationships. Set in the South in the 1960's, it is also a story about race and segregation. I enjoyed this novel and would recommend id. I felt that I was transported to another time and place. I also enjoyed spending time with these characters.

This was an enjoyable read about a young boy growing up in the South in the 1960s. His father dies, and Pete remains close to Isaac, a field hand who grew up with his father. When Isaac goes missing, Pete spends years trying to find out what happened to him. Along the way we learn meet and learn about his friend Dovey, his mother, his grandfather, and others in the community. ( )

Evocative and easy going smooth paced dialogue highlights the story of Pete,
a young man whose father and best friend, Isaac, are both gone from him within a very short time.
One meets a terrible accidental death and the other remains a mystery pursued through the book.

Despite that Isaac, Pete's father, and most of the main characters veer into too good to be true,
the book delivers many page-turning chapters.

Pete's adventures carry the sadness of the plot into the challenges of unexpected early love and a lot of hard work.
The story falters at The Pig Wells. Though both Pete and Dovey are only around thirteen, they are country wise
and surely would have immediately seen that there were neither footprints nor signs of something being dragged or thrown
over the wells. Unlike the build-up, the predictable cave in and rescue felt really contrived.

The families' town of Glory, so close to Birmingham, Alabama, is strangely and totally unaffected by the historical changes
marked by the violence of The Marches, Dr. King. terror, the evolution of Civil Rights and all the 60s assassinations.

As well, on their many and various trips to Birmingham, did no one, Black or White, ever meet any African Americans who did NOT
speaking dialect? And none who called themselves other than "colored?"

One might further envision how differently the story would have gone if Daddy Ballard's last tenants had been Black and if
Rich White Folks weren't forever saving the day for everyone.

Missing Isaac is ultimately a good love story in many directions! ( )