Sourcebooks will be re-releasing Sandlin's GroVentre trilogy this
September with a new fourth book to be added next season. While I find myself questioning the likelihood of the behavior of the young 13 year old central characters, it is fiction. This is a compelling rite of passage novel with characters that will be found as flawed adults in the later novels. Set in
Teton County in Wyoming, this first book was more about people and place and Sandlin's characters are witty, reckless, and likeable. I was sorely tempted to jump right into the second book, Sorrow Floats, but will save it for a later read, but certainly not much later.

Got this one for free and I may go ahead and get the next ones in the series. It took me a while to get into, but I came to have a lot of affection for and interest in this incredibly dysfunctional family and their strange little town in the Tetons. The subject matter is a little disturbing, but what is more disturbing is how Sam's mother encouraged his sexual exploration at the age of 13. She is one messed up woman! My favorite thing is Sam's tendency to daydream about scenarios in which he's rich, famous, a sexual hero, etc. etc. Many of those made me laugh out loud.

I did really like this book, but it's biggest flaw was the age of the two main characters. If Sandlin had just added TWO years, the believability factor would have gone up 100% and this would have been a great book. As it is, it's a good story about lost souls finding their place in the world, and about kids who grow up too soon and how they deal with it. Mom and son forced to move into exile over mom's crazy antics. Can't say I didn't enjoy it and want to find out how it all came out. This is not, probably, anything that can be called "reality" fiction, thank heavens.