Review: The Ride of My Life

Disclosure: This is review of my friend's book. He didn't ask me to do this, and he didn't give me any freebies. I just liked it and think it deserves to be reviewed.

The Ride Of My Life by Nick Bowen is a break from my usual science fiction. This time it's a coming-of-age story with some Christianity mixed in.

Larry is in high-school, and because of his cleft palate, he's subject to bullying. He tries to avoid the bullies, reason with them, and nothing works. He always gets beat up. So, his parents have an idea. They could let Larry read his deceased Grandfather Bill's journal.

At first Larry resists the journal -- why should he read about a person he had never met? However, when he acquiesces he's pulled in to the story.

Grandfather Bill writes about how he was a kid in high school with his own cleft palate and bullies, how he befriended a new poor kid, Jason, and how Jason changed his life. One day when Bill visits Jason's trailer, he sees a picture of Jesus, and you can imagine what comes next.

The whole book reads like a series of vignettes -- almost like a collection of short stories with one common thread -- Bill and Larry learn how Jesus can make your life better. Each vignette concentrates on some aspect or parallel of Jesus' life. Overall, it's a good collection showing boys becoming great men, and also exploring through allegory the traits of Jesus.

The vast majority of the book concentrates on Bill's stories, but Larry also applies what he's learning into a few adventures of his own.

My only complaint is that I wish each of the vignettes could have been fleshed out more -- some seem to be quite short. In some instances, I think the stories could have been layered in -- have several things going on at the same time. But then again, it's written like most journals, which tend to be short in real life.

I love the stories themselves and the characters. Even the bullies are interesting and believable. Sometimes I wonder from all the detail if Nick, the author, is relaying actual stories from his own life.

It's a good read, and fast, and gives plenty of warm fuzzies. If you love stories about coming-to-age and Christianity, this should be a nice relaxing book, from which you may actually learn something.