Book Lovers Come On In

 2.5 Stars. I really liked this book.  At the beginning and in the middle.  Although it gave me angst because Jake was bullied so much by school mates and a teacher, and a policeman, I liked it and the characters.   Jake's parents were alcoholics, so he is on his own A Lot.  When he finds a scabby dog, he takes him home, but his father insists he pay for the food and care of the dog.  So, Jake gets a job.   And, he begins going every day to have a cup of coffee with an old man living in a a bus.  Enter town gossip, who tells the police that terrible things are going on. A court case ensues and that's when I didn't like the YA book.  I thought it was quite graphic in one section for young teens to read.  It totally turned me against the book. Hence, the low marks, even tho many people think it is a great book for YA.  NOT ME!  I would not have wanted my boys to read it.  

  If anybody wants to read a feel-good book, this is it!   Theo, a very distinguished gentleman in his eighties. moves from New York to spend time in a small southern town.  Everyone wonders about the one-named man who soon begins to make a difference in people's lives.   He begins by buying portraits that a local artist painted and put up on the coffee-shop walls.  Theo buys the portraits, then gives them to the person who was painted.  Some people are grateful, some are suspicious, but mostly everyone just wonders WHY has he come?  And, WHY has he come to this little town? The answers to those questions eventually come out and it's a surprise ending, for sure.  It's definitely a feel good book. I give it 3.5 stars.