It is a hard job to take words, put them on a medium to be read, and have it enjoyed, learned from, or simply absorbed. Not many are able to do a good job, even if they do get published. Fewer are able to put something that grows from deep pain, and still make it palpable enough to teach a needed lesson, especially if you are not asking to be taught in the first place.

No one likes being preached to and Different Roads does not do that. Instead you are lead through the heart, mind, and eyes of a character who lived through a version of hell that is all too commonly known among those whose parents are stuck in poverty. Bad enough that Jaycee’s mom died on her when she was six and stuck with a dad who is so addicted to the booze that he can't wake up, get well, and be her dad. Jaycee is no one's fool; it's what kept her alive. Developing large breasts at an early age, she learned how to make people check her out. Jaycee has a brain and knows how to use it, too. Against all odds she makes it into college and falls for the one kind of guy she always avoids. The rich type who takes girls, uses them, and throws them aside the next day.

Different Roads leads to down places, "what if" ideas, and all the stupid ways we hurt the ones we love. Yet there is grace here too, and how we can redeem ourselves if given half a chance. Can two people so badly damaged by mistaken intentions from family create a better and healing family of their own?

Reading Different Roads will show different sides of the answer to that question.
 
Reviewed By: Nancy Louise
© November 2007