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Luke grows up in the 60’s and 70’s when life was a bit simpler and kids still played outside and spent little time in front of a TV. Consequently, Luke is a bit of an innocent soul. When Luke is six, his family moves into a primarily Protestant neighborhood. Luke has to ride the bus each day back to his all-boys Catholic school. While he makes friends in his new neighborhood, he always feels a bit left out because he goes to a different school and to Catholic Mass instead of to the local school and the Protestant church across the street. Luke is a sweet, good and naive young boy who is overly concerned with the concept of sin and especially mortal sin. He is always looking over his shoulder for his guardian angel, fearful of dying with a mortal sin yet to be confessed. We see in the story that Luke should worry less over his own behavior and more about the bullies in his life: his teachers and the neighborhood kids.
As Luke ages, his innocence slowly evaporates and he becomes skeptical of religion and it’s place in his life. This is quite a contrast to the religious young boy he had been. As Luke begins to experience life, he can’t quite equate sin with some of the more pleasurable experiences he discovers. He fights more often with his father who is a bit of a hypocrite, insisting Luke attends Mass even though he doesn’t go himself. Luke rebels by skipping Mass, drinking, smoking and hanging out with girls. He even considers dropping out of school. By the time Luke’s father passes away, he no longer believes in God at all. His life centers exclusively on his girlfriend and rock and roll; both of which will lead him down an unexpected and, at times, dangerous path.
The Protestant church across the street plays a somewhat mysterious role throughout the early part of the story. Luke repetitively mentions that the church across the street is the same age that he is. Eventually we learn why the church is a touchstone in his life. The book ends with Luke, as an adult, summarizing what happened to him in life from when his journal ends at age eighteen to his current age of fifty-six. As an adult, he is able to reflect on the positive parts of his life and be grateful for the challenges he faced. The reader may find Luke's religious position as an adult to be a bit surprising compared to his early life.
I was able to read this book in one day. It was engaging from the beginning and I was very curious to see if this was just a story with a religious viewpoint or something more. It is definitely something more. The author has a descriptive way of writing, bringing the characters to life vividly. I could almost see some of the neighborhood characters going about their day. The writing is also light and, at times, amusing. This story gave me a lot to think about such as the role church plays in people’s lives, especially for children. I liked that it ended with a positive message. I give this book 3 out of 4 stars (good).
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