Jay
W. Royce Adams
(Reviewer - Rebecca Brown)
2005 Rairarubia Books
ISBN: 1588321207

A sixteen year-old orphaned boy “catches out” on a freight train to avoid going to a foster home.

& that doesn't begin to tell you about Jay, & what happens to him when he runs away from his home town, & his two good friends, Geri & her dad Randall, who you might have met if you've read Me & Jay. Even so, it's not necessary because this book stands on its own.

After his Mom's died, Jay is faced with being taken care of by the state. Instead, he puts his stuff: a photo of his Mom, a Swiss Army knife, & a twenty-dollar bill into his back pack, & jumps on a freight train heading... anywhere... perhaps, eventually to California.

Along the way, in a world fraught with huge trains & flat cars that can kill in an instance, if you make one misstep, Jay gets hauled out of his hiding place in the dead of night by a gang of armed men. With some fellow travellers -- hobos -- he's never seen before, the gang humiliates them & steal the few bucks in their pockets.

In one of his jumps onto a moving train, he stumbles across another young man who goes by the moniker: Liberty Two. They decide to travel together, & LT tells Jay about the meeting in Iowa he's just come from where hobos are trying to organize for a better relationship with the railroads.

Struggling to find food & water, & avoid getting caught by train guards, police & hooligans, Jay & LT come upon a group of older men around a camp fire. There they are welcomed, fed & told some mighty interesting stories about the history of hoboing.

In the end, Jay must decide what kind of life he really wants, & what his options are. He must also come to terms with lies, deceit, courtesy, & honor, & what the true worth of freedom & friendship is.

While W. Royce Adams has written a fine & riveting adventure about a boy on the run who joins the sub-culture of the hobos, & includes a lot of history, & scenes of fun as well as danger, he does not encourage or romanticize this lifestyle.

Outstanding!

Ages 13 up.

More from W. Royce Adams:
The Computer's Nerd
Revenge on Rairarubia
Rairarubia
Return to Rairarubia
Ring from Rairarubia
Raid on Rairarubia
(10/09/05)

Rebecca