Such a great coming of age book that tests the bonds friendships to overcome heartaches. ( )

I won a copy of this book from a giveaway on LibraryThing in exchange for a review. The author did a fabulous job describing the MC's insecurities and experiences. That part of the story felt realistic. For the most part, I liked the writing style. It was easy to read.
There was something about the dialogue at times that threw me off. I'm not entirely sure what it was. Likewise, Vi and Alex's characters felt a little flat to me. As we neared the end, I found the storytelling more list-like. At that point, we were checking off items from a list. Those items didn't necessarily need to be added. It didn't add any final character development or a last "hurrah" of fun between friends. But hey I still liked it. ( )

This book reminds me of a time when I used Fidonet. (if you don't know what that is, look it up). Mail came slower (Netmail (like email)) and messages even slower. There was a man in the one group I belonged to. He was a story teller. He said he was from the "hills of Kentucky" and he told stories about his life. And he was great at describing life in the hills. I looked forward to his weekly stories.

This book is like that. Everything is described very well. You feel like you are in the story. Jeff Zentner does a great job in describing the life of one such person and his life (in the hills and beyond).
I hope this author writes more stories like this. I really enjoyed it. ( )

If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would. Cash Pruitt and his science genius best friend Delaney Doyle are accepted into a prestigious private school following Delaney's discovery of a new antibiotic. Thus begins their journey from a small town in East Tennessee to a posh school in Connecticut. Both Cash and Delaney are haunted by their mothers' drug addictions. The death of Cash's mother leads to him being raised by his grandparents. Cash is torn between going to Connecticut to support Delaney or staying in Sawyer with his ailing Papaw. However, he reluctantly chooses to leave the safety of his home behind and take a risk on a new future. Together with Delany and his new friends Vi and Alex, Cash begins to discover his true strengths and, with the encouragement and support of his English teacher, begins to bloom as a poet. This book is very emotional and had me in tears on a few occasions. Unsure if it was intentional or is the author's style, but Cash's narrative and thoughts often seemed more poetic than the actual poems he "wrote." This would make an excellent television movie. ( )

This was probably one of the best books I have read all year. Family, Grief, love, poetry, loss, friendship, true love, all wrapped up in this absolutely wonderful book. I have to listen to it and half read it and couldn’t put it down. I really enjoyed how the author Inc. free verse poetry As a way for cash to get in touch not only with himself but where he came from. ( )