Samuel Gerard is a twelve year old boy from Denver in the 80's. He loves hanging out with his friends, mostly at the Tina Turner Tabletop where they do bike jumps. He lives with his hardworking mother and his grandmother, after his religious father has left them to 'save the world' and to preach about Jesus.There is a lot of violence in Samuel's neighborhood. Mexicans in the neighborhood are bullying everone and stealing the bikes from Samuel and his friends (and it takes a lot of work to get them back!).
Samuels life becomes a series of adventures with his friends that sometimes don't turn out well, like the effects the bombs they are making from the Anarchist cookbook. And at school he has to deal with a few bullies as well. Like Saula, an agressive girl that is scarying everone with a strong hate for Samuel. And then his cousin David comes to live in his house, due to some family issues back home David has turned into a difficult and sometimes troublemaking boy. And it seems Samuel now has a bully at home too..
The book of Samuel is an outstanding and very original young adult novel. It is very different that most ya novels, but thats what I really liked about it. It is also a very realistic book and it has an important message between the lines that it is wrong to blame a certain group for things that go wrong. And I loved the funny undertone at certain points in Samuel's observation about the things that happen around him. The book of Samuel is really worth reading and a great pick if you are looking for a very original ya novel.
