 Crossing
The Burn
By: J.Y. Jones
Publisher:
Hoy Publications 189
pgs
Retail
Price Hard Cover $27.95 Buy
Now
Retail
Price Paperback $13.95 Buy
Now
ISBN
(HB) 1-59113-348-3
ISBN (PB) 1-59113-347-5
Set in the northern Georgia mountains
in the 1950s, this book brilliantly highlights the best and the worst in
the mountain folk that constitute its main characters. Travis Jackson
is a young teenager whose passion for the outdoors is strongly
stimulated by an irreverent elderly neighbor who is a cynical
retired chicken farmer. The youth is also heavily influenced
by an opinionated part-time preacher and packrat who lives
nearby. As the boy matures, the tug of the two men’s opposing
philosophies and values creates a troubling tension that is
central to the story. While both men are highly unconventional
in their views of the world, the first mentors Travis by his
considerable outdoor skills, especially in hunting squirrels
and harvesting wild produce from the local environs. The second
man lays the foundation for the youth’s spiritual development
through displaying a veiled spiritual strength. Along the
way many Appalachian peculiarities are featured, bringing
much local color into the fabric of the story.
The
youth’s life involves a diverse peer group, and his interaction
with them produces numerous interesting adventures that are
interwoven in a stimulating backdrop. Highlights include Travis’
experience with his guardian angel, his discovery of the victim
of an unsolved murder, an inexplicable belligerence towards
him from a certain segment of the community, stumbling upon
a deadly illegal activity that almost costs the boy his life,
and the revelation of his elderly squirrel-hunting buddy’s
dark past. These elements combine dramatically to bring the
tale to an exciting and unexpected
conclusion that holds profound
spiritual implications.
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