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 was the poorest region of the state. The poorest county in the region. And the poorest road in the county.To make things worse, the name Hickam was synonymous for trouble throughout Southeastern Ohio. Jimmy Lee hailed from a heathen mix of thieves, moonshiners, drunkards, and general anti-socials that for decades had clung to both the hardscrabble hills and the iron bars of every jail cell in the region. This life, Jimmy Lee believed, was his destiny.
The only two constants in Jimmy Lee’s life are football and the misery of his situation. When Jimmy Lee wins the school essay writing contest, there are no accolades. In fact, it creates nothing but resentment and doubt.
No one believes this 17-year-old, wrong-side-of-the-tracks kid is capable of creating such a paper. When the school attempts to strip him of the award, his English teacher risks her job to stand up for him, showing him a path away from the cycle of poverty and alcoholism that has defined his family for years.
Robin Yocum will be at Lunch With
Books at the Ohio County Public Library on Tuesday January 15 at noon to
discuss his new novel, The Essay, about a young man who uses his talent
for writing to find a path out of the hills of Appalachia. Surprising revelations
and an unforgettable cast of characters born of the worn-out landscape of
southeastern Ohio make The Essay a powerful and moving novel. Lunch With
Books programs are free and open to the public. Patrons are invited to bring a
bag lunch and free beverages are served. Please call 304-232-0244 for more
information.
No comments:
Post a Comment