If Jack's In Love

If Jack’s In Love by Stephen Wetta
My rating:

3 stars—I liked it.

My Thoughts:

This is a coming of age story. The main theme was of growing up poor and the realization that you are viewed differently because of that background. It’s about the importance of family. Overall, I liked it, but had a hard time staying engaged through some of the slow moving portions.

A recommend for the coming of age reader!

Description from Goodreads.com:

“It's 1967. Jack Witcher is a twelve-year-old boy genius living in a Virginia suburb at an address the entire neighborhood avoids. Jack's father has lost his job-again-and he's starting fights with other fathers. Jack's mother, sweet but painfully ugly, works as a cashier at a local market. Jack's older brother is a long-haired, pot-smoking hippie.

If all of that isn't bad enough, Jack's brother suddenly becomes the main suspect in the disappearance of the town's golden boy. And to make matters even worse, Jack is in love with the missing boy's sister, Myra. Mr. Gladstein, the town jeweler and solitary Jew, is Jack's only friend; together, they scheme to win Jack Myra's love. But to do that, Jack must overcome the prejudices, both the town's and his own, about himself and his family.”