Former Broadway dancer and current agoraphobic Billy Shine has not set foot outside his apartment in almost a decade. He has glimpsed his neighbors—beautiful manicurist Rayleen, lonely old Ms. Hinman, bigoted and angry Mr. Lafferty, kind-hearted Felipe, and 9-year-old Grace and her former addict mother Eileen.
But most of them have never seen Billy. Not until Grace begins to sit outside on the building’s front stoop for hours every day, inches from Billy’s patio. Troubled by this change in the natural order, Billy makes it far enough out onto his porch to ask Grace why she doesn't sit inside where it’s safe. Her answer: “If I sit inside, then nobody will know I’m in trouble. And then nobody will help me.”
Her answer changes everything.
By the bestselling author of WHEN I FOUND YOU, SECOND HAND HEART, and PAY IT FORWARD, DON’T LET ME GO is the heart-breaking, funny, and life-affirming story of a building full of loners and misfits who come together to help a little girl survive—and thrive—against all odds.
My thoughts on DON'T LET ME GO:
The blurb alone is enough to suck you in and pull on your heart strings. "If I sit inside, then nobody will know I'm in trouble." OMG. That right there broke my heart into tiny little pieces, and is the reason I signed up for this blog tour.
Grace is easy to love and root for, and she's as strong as she is vulnerable, which makes her such a well-formed character. The cards she's been dealt are far from fair, but she remains good and hopeful throughout. When she begins forming a friendship with Billy, we see in him what she sees.
And what she sees is that Billy Shine is the character who shines in this story. I loved him instantly. His flaws and idiosyncrasies made him endearing and lovable. I wanted to know him and learn about him, and I wanted so badly to see him blossom throughout this story. I wanted him to grow and heal, and crawl away from his darkness and back into the light ... where he could no doubt shine once again. (Yes, yes, cheesy pun intended.)
What's most amazing about this book is how much I felt while reading it. It is an endearing tale of love and drama, pain and healing. I highly suggest reading it if you like beautiful books that make your heart swell.
Author Bio:
Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of 18 published and forthcoming books.
Her newest releases are When You Were Older, Don’t Let Me Go, Jumpstart the World , When I Found You and Second Hand Heart. Forthcoming is Walk Me Home (Transworld UK, Spring 2012).
Other newer novels are Becoming Chloe, Love in the Present Tense, The Year of My Miraculous Reappearance, Chasing Windmills The Day I Killed James, and Diary of a Witness.
Both Becoming Chloe and Jumpstart the World were included on the ALA’s Rainbow List. Jumpstart the World was chosen as a finalist for two Lambda Literary Awards, received a third place Rainbow Award for Young Adult/Coming of Age Fiction and a tie for first place in Bisexual/Transgender Fiction. Love in the Present Tense enjoyed bestseller status in the UK, where it broke the top ten, spent five weeks on the national bestseller list, was reviewed on a major TV book club, and shortlisted for a Best Read of the Year Award at the British Book Awards.
Older works include the story collection Earthquake Weather, and the novels Funerals for Horses, Pay it Forward, Electric God, and Walter’s Purple Heart.
Pay It Forward was adapted into a major motion picture starring Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt, chosen by the American Library Association for its Best Books for Young Adults list, and translated into more than 23 languages for distribution in over 30 countries. The mass market paperback was released in October 2000 by Pocket Books and quickly became a national bestseller. It is still in print, and was rereleased in a trade paperback edition in April of 2010.
More than 50 of her short stories have been published in The Antioch Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, Ploughshares, Glimmer Train, The Sun and many other journals, and in the anthologies Santa Barbara Stories andCalifornia Shorts and the bestselling anthology Dog is my Co-Pilot. Her stories have been honored in the Raymond Carver Short Story Contest and the Tobias Wolff Award and nominated for Best American Short Stories, the O'Henry Award, and the Pushcart Prize. Three have been cited in Best American Short Stories.
She is founder and former president (2000-2009) of the Pay It Forward Foundation. As a professional public speaker she has addressed the National Conference on Education, twice spoken at Cornell University, met with Americorps members at the White House and shared a dais with Bill Clinton.
Catherine Ryan Hyde is the author of 18 published and forthcoming books.
Her newest releases are When You Were Older, Don’t Let Me Go, Jumpstart the World , When I Found You and Second Hand Heart. Forthcoming is Walk Me Home (Transworld UK, Spring 2012).
Other newer novels are Becoming Chloe, Love in the Present Tense, The Year of My Miraculous Reappearance, Chasing Windmills The Day I Killed James, and Diary of a Witness.
Both Becoming Chloe and Jumpstart the World were included on the ALA’s Rainbow List. Jumpstart the World was chosen as a finalist for two Lambda Literary Awards, received a third place Rainbow Award for Young Adult/Coming of Age Fiction and a tie for first place in Bisexual/Transgender Fiction. Love in the Present Tense enjoyed bestseller status in the UK, where it broke the top ten, spent five weeks on the national bestseller list, was reviewed on a major TV book club, and shortlisted for a Best Read of the Year Award at the British Book Awards.
Older works include the story collection Earthquake Weather, and the novels Funerals for Horses, Pay it Forward, Electric God, and Walter’s Purple Heart.
Pay It Forward was adapted into a major motion picture starring Kevin Spacey and Helen Hunt, chosen by the American Library Association for its Best Books for Young Adults list, and translated into more than 23 languages for distribution in over 30 countries. The mass market paperback was released in October 2000 by Pocket Books and quickly became a national bestseller. It is still in print, and was rereleased in a trade paperback edition in April of 2010.
More than 50 of her short stories have been published in The Antioch Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, The Virginia Quarterly Review, Ploughshares, Glimmer Train, The Sun and many other journals, and in the anthologies Santa Barbara Stories andCalifornia Shorts and the bestselling anthology Dog is my Co-Pilot. Her stories have been honored in the Raymond Carver Short Story Contest and the Tobias Wolff Award and nominated for Best American Short Stories, the O'Henry Award, and the Pushcart Prize. Three have been cited in Best American Short Stories.
She is founder and former president (2000-2009) of the Pay It Forward Foundation. As a professional public speaker she has addressed the National Conference on Education, twice spoken at Cornell University, met with Americorps members at the White House and shared a dais with Bill Clinton.
Connect with Catherine!
Website: http://www.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/
Facebook profile: https://www.facebook.
Facebook author page: https://www.facebook.
Tumblr blog: http://www.tumblr.com/
Pinterest: http://pinterest.
Buy the Book!
Buy the Book!
paperback: https://www.
Thanks so much for being in the tour!
ReplyDeleteJessa, I just have to comment (although I'm of the opinion that the author should stay out of it as people review and discuss their books). But thank you so much for loving Billy. I just adored him the whole time I was writing him, but he has so many issues. I was worried people would dismiss him as a weirdo. The more people embrace his character, the more my faith in human nature is restored. Thanks for the lovely review. So glad you liked the book.
ReplyDelete