Sunday, September 11, 2016

"Lean on Pete" Review

“Lean on Pete” by Willy Vlautin

Published by Harper Perennial

Finished 9/10/16 – 3.5/5 stars

I came across this book because an author I enjoy reading and follow on Goodreads had read it for his book club and really enjoyed it.  Prior to that, I had never heard of it before.  That is how I find out about a lot of great books though – reviews by others on Goodreads.  Anyone can find out about books on the best seller list but reviews and recommendations by others introduce me to many more wonderful books, new and old.

This novel is about a 15 year old who is pretty much on his own – he doesn’t know his mother and his father is never around.  Throw in the fact that his father moves him around fairly often and therefore doesn’t have friends to lean on, he is truly raising himself.  He finds friendship at a local race track in an aging horse named Lean on Pete.  After a tragic event leaves him completely alone, he starts a journey to find the only other relative he knows – his aunt that he hopes still lives in Wyoming because that is where he is heading.  At times the journey seems a little repetitive in what he encounters, but overall a very good story.


Although this is a coming of age story and some consider it YA, I don’t think some of the content is suited for tweens or younger teens.  I consider this more for the older YA crowd.

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