Sons From Afar
Must be read if you've read the first five books in the series and have become enamored of all things Tillerman. It doesn't stand on its own, which was okay by me. It doesn't really start and it doesn't really end, which, also, was okay by me. It's like reading a diary of a good friend who is still alive--you don't want or expect an ending. It's a...how did you get that way? novel.
Cynthia Voigt demonstrates amazing skill at portraying the adolescent mind. You absolutely know these kids and, because you know them, you love them. Love them the same way you do Frodo Baggins or Sam Gamgee--you've been with them to Mordor and back--you've been in their heads as they fight orcs, cower in the shadows, shiver in the cold under the stars.
I have one small quibble--with all Ms. Voigt's skill and understanding, why does she totally skip sexuality? I'm told that the adolescent male spends a lot of time and energy on it--when I once suggested to a friend that the primary thoughts in a young man's mind concerned, "girls, sports, school," in that order, his correction was: "girls, girls, girls..." with sports maybe on the list at number 39 and school totally absent.
Don't get me wrong--I'm not wanting Cynthia Voigt to change her writing. I'm just a little puzzled that she leaves out such a huge slice of the adolescent psyche.
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