Jimmy Lee Hickam grew up along Red Dog Road, a dead-end strip of gravel and mud buried deep in the bowels of Appalachian Ohio. It is the poorest road, in the poorest county, in the poorest region of the state. To make things worse, the name Hickam is synonymous with trouble. Jimmy Lee hails from a heathen mix of thieves, moonshiners, drunkards, and general anti-socials that for decades have … have clung to both the hardscrabble hills and the iron bars of every jail cell in the region. This life, Jimmy Lee believes, is his destiny, someday working with his drunkard father at the sawmill, or sitting next to his arsonist brother in the penitentiary. There aren’t many options if your last name is Hickam.
An inspiring coach and Jimmy Lee’s ability to play football are the only things motivating him to return for his junior year of high school—until his visionary English teacher cuts him a break and preserves his eligibility for the coming football season. To thank her, Jimmy Lee writes a winning essay in the high school writing contest. When irate parents and the baffled administration claim he has cheated, his teacher is inspired to take his writing talent as far as it can go, showing him the path out of the hills of Appalachia.
Terrific characterizations, surprising revelations, gut-wrenching past betrayals, and an unforgettable cast of characters born of the dusty, worn-out landscape of southeastern Ohio make The Essay a powerful, evocative, and incredibly moving novel.
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This is a simple story told well about a child of a wrong-side-of-the-tracks family who manages through his own talent and integrity to rise above his situation and the prejudice of others to become a fine athlete and award-winning essayist who makes it to college. As a wrong-side-of-the-tracks kid myself who, through sports, managed to be accepted by other school peer groups, was the first in my family to go to college and ended up with a Ph.D. and now is retired from a career as a university professor, I can relate to the story very well.
I loved this book! He has a way of making you care deeply for the characters. Have read several of his books and loved them all.
This is a beautifully written account of a young man’s escape from Red Dog Road, whose residents are expected to be manual laborers in and around the community where they live. The young man’s escape is due largely to two people, a football coach and an English teacher, who recognize his talents and do not view him through the same lenses as his parents and others in the community.
Robin Yocum is an excellent writer! His characters are so real, his descriptions so vibrant, I find myself rereading passages because they are so wonderfully worded. I’ve enjoyed all three books of his that I’ve read so far.
Loved this book! Lots of life lessons in it.
It’s an inspirational story of a person born into extreme poverty and social misfits rising above his background. It’s well written and engrossing. Things seem to go almost too well for the protagonist, but the author pulls you into the character and I certainly felt a kinship for that hero.
I really enjoyed this book. As a retired teacher, I have been a witness to students being pegged as trouble makers based on where they lived or the behavior of siblings. This story brings to the forefront the fallacy of prejudging people, especially students.
This book was “Haunting” to me personally, because so much of it I could relate to my own personal experience growing up. Regardless of that, it is extremely well written and draws the reader in the this young man’s world in an effective way.
This book gives hope. It’s great for teachers to understand the influence they have to make difference in a student’s life!
I loved this book. I became so interested in what was happening to the main character, Jimmy, that I didn’t want to stop reading! Well written.
A must read for every educator.
Great mystery and an awesome story of redemption of a young “cast off” poor student from “the wrong side of the tracks” because of the value a teacher saw in him.
This book reads like a memoir. The storyteller is so authentic I checked several times to make sure it was fiction. Wonderful writing and a wonderful story of overcoming a tough childhood in Appalachia.
This book should be required reading at high school freshman or sophomore level. Well worth whatever you pay for it. Finest book I have read for quite a while.
This is a wonderful little book; a very fast read that almost everyone in my book club loved.
I loved it. Would love to read another book by this author.
This novel read like a memoir and was well written. Characters were well defined and all get better throughout the book.
Thoroughly enjoyed the character buildup in this book. A very good read.
This novel is fascinating, I couldn’t put it down. Talk about a page-turner! I rarely give out five stars; this is a STRONG five stars.
Showed realistic characters in an unusual setting for novels that are adult/Young Adult crossovers titles. Well developed story line, unconventional heroes and class prejudice are emphasised but nuanced enough to be a part and not all of the story . Family and high school dynamics take center stage.