author | Books and my backpack

No spoilers here. Except for one: Just a Regular Boy could spoil you by setting a bar so high you may have trouble topping it in your future reading.

The book, by Catherine Ryan Hyde, grabbed me from the opening pages and, days after I finished it, I still feel its pull.

Remy Blake is five years old and has lost his mother when his survivalist father moves him to a remote Idaho cabin devoid of modern facilities. His father tells Remy he is finally free, but that he should fear the world and trust no one. In fact, he and his son stay sealed off from the outside.

You will cheer, worry, and feel his fear as the boy takes on the characteristics of a feral animal. When his dad’s heart gives out, Remy is just seven years old, and when he runs out of supplies, he must venture into the “evil” world. His dad’s old truck is his only way out, but he is too short to drive and crashes off a road, breaking his leg, adding to the broken ribs he sustained while trying to survive.

Remy fights for his life, even as he wonders if it is worth living. He is desperate and the depth of his character reveals itself. Will anyone help him? Will the goodness at the core of his heart find a chance to shine? A warning: If you are determined to keep your eyes dry, Remy Blake’s story may not be for you.

Hyde, who has penned more than 40 books, is the author of Pay it Forward, which was adapted into a motion picture. You’re right; I look forward to reading more of her books.

Did you know that if not for the fog, George Washington and his troops may have been captured by the British in 1776? Where would that have put the future of 13 colonies?

That is one of many anecdotes uncovered by David McCullough, one of America’s greatest historians and authors, in my favorite McCullough book, 1776. Today, I feel like I have lost a friend. McCullough died Sunday (August 7) at 89.

While I traveled through his books, he was my guide. I imagined each word through his gentle voice that enthralled millions who listened to his work as a television and motion picture narrator.

His non-fiction works read like novels. He immersed himself in research that uncovered stories that other books about his subjects missed. Reading about history has never been so entertaining and informative.

He won a pair of Pulitzers and more awards than I can list here. I read his books before I started this blog; thus there are no McCullough book reviews on Books and My Backpack.

Another of my favorites was The Path Between the Seas, which chronicled the building of the Panama Canal. And if you think you know about the Wright Brothers, you don’t, unless you have read his book about their journey into the sky. Truman and John Adams set a high standard for biographies about American presidents. There are many more great stories that began on sheets of paper in his manual Royal Standard typewriter.

McCullough died just two months after the death of his wife, Rosalee Barnes, who was his editor.

What is your favorite McCullough book?