Wrecker - A Love Story
With beautiful language and strong sentences the author weaves an intricate story of family love. The story begins in the late 60's in northern California, and it focuses on a boy named Wrecker. However, it is really the group of people surrounding Wrecker that make this story so special.
She creates such appealing and real characters, that right from the first page I was drawn into their lives and concerned about what happens to them.
This is truly a rewarding read!
Rated of 5
by Sylvia G. (Scottsdale, AZ)
The opposite of a wreck
Really enjoyed this one. Wrecker is set in northern California and is the story of Wrecker, a three year old in 1968, whose mother is sent to prison. Adopted by a distant relative, he is raised by a diverse group of people who become a family. The characters are so natural and flawed and three dimensional, you'd swear they are real people. Expressively written with great tenderness and affection.
Rated of 5
by Kathy S. (Danbury, CT)
Family
Loved this one! A very insightful book that reveals its characters as flawed and three dimensional. This book is set in northern California and is the story of Wrecker, a three year old boy whose mother is sent to prison. Wrecker is adopted by a distant uncle who has his own sorrows, and is raised by a group of people living on the next farm over who become his family. Explores the concept of family, and illustrates how the family we choose (or the family that chooses us) may be better for us than the family we were born into.
Rated of 5
by Diane S. (Batavia, IL)
Wrecker
We first meet Wrecker when he is three and from the beginning he tugs at your heartstrings. The characters in this book are wonderful, loving but filled with secrets and flaws that they work through by coming together to give a little boy a home. In doing so they find the answers and the way forward in their own lives.
Rated of 5
by Jane - Indianola, Iowa
Wrecker
Three women and a man, all with secrets and problems of their own, are joined together as an unconventional family to raise an unconventional child named Wrecker These unrelated people surround Wrecker with love and compassion, and in doing so not only come to accept their own problems, but raise and exceptional child to adulthood.
Wood's descriptive sentences are outstanding and add flavor and substance to her beautiful story of motherhood.
Rated of 5
by Jeanne M. (Vancouver, WA)
Wrecker the Transformer and Transformed
With the number of children in the social services system today, this portrayal of the life of "Wrecker" is an important read.
Wrecker fell in with relations who were all trying to solve the problems in their own lives, fairs better than many of the children who find themselves moving from one family to another. Not only does Wrecker gain from his placement with family, he transforms the lives of those around him, with choices made because of him, and in spite of him.
This is a poignant account of a family of survivors woven together with love and care.
I loved reading this book and the hope it has for surviving difficult experiences.
Rated of 5
by Jan B. (Tetonia, ID)
A lovesong to "family"
This story is a love song to the meaning of Family, what it is like to raise an adopted child ... the unspoken questions, the murky unknowns, the pushing ahead because you have to, and that glorious binder called love. Wrecker, an adorable 3 yr old, is separated from his birth-mom, and after a few trials in some different places, lands with an uncle who is pretty unable to care for him at that point, but has this amazing set of odd neighbors who live together just next door, who take him in. It is this extended family, and their different styles and personalities, and the different ways of giving love that allows Wrecker to be the best he can be. I loved all the characters. Time flies by, and he is 20 at the end, ready to fly the coop, but perfect as a young man, ready for the world. I didn't want to put it down.
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by Donna W. (Wauwatosa, WI)
