America, Mike Bond, author
Generally, once a book lover has read a few pages, they know whether or not it is a keeper. In this book, there is no doubt about it; the characters will lure you in from the get-go. The two boys, Troy and Mick, who meet in 1954, in an abandoned Army barracks, have endearing, innocent personalities. When they discover that they share the same birthday, both born March 29th, 1943, they decide they are twins. Soon to be 11, Mick is more mature and far wiser than most boys of his age in today’s society. His father was a Marine during the war, and it deeply affected him. His family has a working farm that has been in the family for many years. Each family member has responsibilities and does a share of the necessary work, milking cows, collecting eggs, chopping firewood, etc. The times are hard, though, and many farmers are succumbing to the economy that favors larger, more technologically advanced farms. Some are selling their property and moving on. Mick’s family is struggling to keep up.
Troy is an orphan. He has limited exposure to life outside the orphanage. His dad, a Marine, died fighting the Japanese. His mom died soon afterwards. He has escaped from the Boy’s Home where he lives with Native American boys that have been removed from their homes to be indoctrinated into the “American” way of life. It is a shameful environment, rather than one of community and faith. The boys are sometimes beaten and abused; they are underfed and sheltered inadequately. So, while the boys are the same age, they come from completely different vantage points.
When Troy meets Mick, he can’t believe his luck. Mick rescues him and takes him to his farm where Troy sees how a loving family lives, and he yearns for a family of his own that loves him too. When he is caught and returned to the orphanage, he doesn’t stay long. After being severely punished, he escapes again and finds his way back to Mick’s farm. The family welcomes him into their hearts and their home. He now has a “ma” and a “pa”, and he embraces all of them as he becomes an integral part of their lives, working alongside all of them on the farm.
Mick’s younger sister, a little jealous at first, is Tara. She is obsessed with music and has the voice of an angel. She embraces Elvis, the Beatles, Billie Holiday and prefers her music and those associated with it, to school. When she is old enough, she leaves home and travels to California where she becomes involved with a seedier lifestyle of nightlife and entertainment, drugs and alcohol. Troy loves her, but wonders if it is forbidden since she is like a sister to him. Theirs is a strange relationship.
Mick is infected with wanderlust and a desire for the freedom to travel the world. He loves and embraces danger. He pushes every envelope to its extreme. Although he is very intelligent, he wants to be free to roam where he pleases and to experience everything he can, ignoring his education to the disappointment of everyone that loves him. Studying bores him completely. He is in love with Daisy who had to move away with her family. A decade later, she embraces the Peace Corps and the Civil Rights Movement and one wonders, will they meet again?
Troy wants to be a pilot and spends his life working toward that goal. His room at the farm is decorated with model airplanes. As some say, though, man plans, G-d laughs. He is a serious student, but his life has many more bumps in the road for him to handle. The family loses the farm, and his eyesight betrays him. He returns home, infrequently, as he searches for a different road to follow.
Tragedies and trauma affect them all, as the decade, from the fifties to the sixties, is embraced and illuminated in the book. As the decade passes and each of the four critical characters goes off to college, the reader will become embroiled in their lives and their struggles. How will life work out for Tara alone, or for Tara and Troy? Will she become a famous entertainer? Will Mick and Daisy meet again? Will Troy find a life without a pilot’s license? Will he become a Marine like his father? Will Mick become more nationalistic and embrace America, although he is seriously part of the anti-war culture, the polar opposite of Troy who wants to fight for American interests, however ill-conceived? Will each of them find a way to give something back to his country, as President Kennedy suggested in his now famous speech, “ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”? The book authentically depicts the time of turmoil in the world. World War II has ended, but the Korean War follows. The first Catholic President is elected. The Bay of Pigs is a disaster, the Berlin crisis occurs. There is unrest in Algeria. The Peace Corps is created. The President is assassinated. The Mafia is implicated. President Johnson takes over and sends troops to Vietnam as France gives up. He gets the United States embroiled in a war it cannot win. The Civil Rights movement explodes, Martin Luther King rises. Bobby Kennedy takes center stage.
The decade covered was a decade of change. Abortion rights were granted by the Supreme Court, the Russians interfered in American politics, organized crime reared its head, free love and drugs were in the headlines as a world in flux marched onwards. These historic moments lived large in the hopes and dreams of the characters as they came of age in this world filled with turmoil. The deaths of John, Martin and Bobby left scars on all, but was very heavy on the generation that was just coming of age. What will their future hold?
This book is a winner because it introduces our tumultuous history with characters we can identify with, admire and root for, even when we disagree with their positions and philosophy. Hopefully, the country will get to that point someday soon, as well. The book’s left-wing view is not subtle, but it is also not confrontational or condescending. It merely reflects the times and the influence those times have had on our present lives. Some may find the results disastrous, some opportune. I look forward to the next book in the series and the continuing lives of these unique characters, Tara, Mick, Troy, and Daisy. The four truly exemplify the era into which they were born, and following their lives and their development, with their differing philosophies, paves the way to introduce their future and ours, as well, as it illustrates the history that will lead them forward to our present day.
My major criticism of this book, that I truly enjoyed, was the addition of crude language and sex which did not enhance the story for me, but rather detracted from it. I would rather authors did not succumb to writing to the crowd for sensational appeal, instead of literary quality. It seems all too common today to include trash in what otherwise would be a book that contributes to society in a more positive way. This book is not about acquiescence to the mob, but it is about resilience, courage, perseverance, endurance and hope for the future of humanity and America. Americans adapt, pick themselves up and dust themselves off to find alternative ways when faced with roadblocks. This book seems to be setting the stage to show that America will endure as the great country she is, always encouraging the fulfillment of dreams.
So, while the book has a very Progressive slant, favoring Kennedy and FDR while it disparages Ike and Nixon, it faithfully follows the history and the effect of it on all of us. Class, sexual orientation, race, and poverty still divide the country, but we are still trying, decades later, to get it right. Perhaps as we follow the lives of these four characters, we will learn the lessons of history and not continue to make the same mistakes.
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I received this book from Meryl Moss Media Group