Carry Me Home: A Novel

ANOTHER VERY SPECIAL READ!

I love Sandra Kring's books! Carry Me Home is such a touching, inspiring story. Earl"Earwig" Gundersen, 16 years old, is mentally slow due to a high fever as a baby, but he is one of the wisest characters I have read. You will relish every word, cry and laugh and absorb all emotions this wonderful book has to offer. VERY SPECIAL READ!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A fabulous historical thriller

In 1940 Wisconsin WWII sixteen year old Earl 'Earwig' Gunderman understands from his mom that the fever he suffered fried his brain leaving him struggling with learning new concepts. His older brother Jimmy tries to help Earwig as much as he can. That ends when a drunken Jimmy enlists in the National Guard. With no training, he is sent with equally raw recruits to serve in the Philippines where his unit is destroyed at the Battle of Bataan. With no word about how Jimmy fared, his family except Earwig assumes he died and grieve their loss. ----------- Several years pass until Jimmy finally returns home, but he is not the same person who left. He suffers from battle fatigue after spending the war as a POW. He turns to drink, but Earwig will not allow his beloved older brother to drown himself in pity nor will widow Eva Leigh.------------ The first half of this fabulous historical thriller introduces the audience to the Gunderman family and friends who are gung ho patriots in support of the war effort reaching a stunner when mom announces ¿the army lost Jimmy¿. However, the tale becomes excellent with a current relevancy when Jimmy returns from the war bitter, angry and introverted. He and other vets accuse the government of deserting them in Bataan, which infuriates the townsfolk who remain patriotic supporters of the war allowing for no criticism for that helps the enemy. Yet even with that deep poignancy, Earwig owns the story line with his simple pragmatic outlook.---------- Harriet Klausner

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Awesome and inspiring

I have not posted a review before, but after reading Carry Me Home, I felt like I needed to share this book. I first was drawn to it because it's set not far from where I live but once I started reading, I realized it was much more. It¿s a bildungsroman told through the eyes of Earl, a developmentally slow young man who is more astute than most of the adults. His vocabulary is crude at times but lends an air of reality(I have teenage boys) to his story. I loved the historical account of the war thru eyes of their loved one and the 'politics' of small town life. The way they GIs were shushed, shunned and denounced on their return was as horrific as the fact based account of the Bataan death march and ensuing interment of American POWs. This was flowing, descriptive and heart felt. I laughed, cried and rued the end. It left me talking about it to anyone who would listen and searching for more by the same author.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Dangerous times in America

The world of literature has a new remarkable character named Earl 'Earwig' Gunderman. He will take his place alongside Huck Finn and Holden Caulfield as one of literature's most memorable teenagers. Although deemed 'slow' by the folks in his rural 1940's Wisconsin hometown, Earwig possesses a soul filled with warmth and compassion. Ms. Kring covers life and times in the American Midwest during the early war years with historical accuracy and perfect pitch. 'Carry Me Home' has the unerring sound of this dangerous time in American history. Earwig's family agonizes over his older brother gone missing in the war as they struggle with severe rationing and shortages. Throughout the conflicts the young man's innocent wisdom is beautifully developed by the author. Sandra Kring's novel Carry Me Home will make a great motion picture. Look for it after you've read this stunning story.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

A quick and engaging read

Being an avid reader, I am always grateful to those who develop their writting skills and dare to put their work out there for those of us who always need a good book. And this was definitely a good reading experience. The plot was predictable, but what kept me going was the main character and narrator, Earwig. While the book got a little preachy, Earwig always kept my interest and my heart.

Not A Great Book

Boring to read. You expect it to build in intensity with ever page turn but nothing happens. By the time you get to the end you are wondering why you even bothered to pick it up.

A new classic

I enjoyed this book so much. With Earwig as the narrarator, this book stands along other great books told from a youngster's point of view like To Kill A Mockingbird. I laughed out loud at many of Earwig's stories and I cried along with him, too. The language is a little crude but realistic. The grammar is much like I believe a mildly disabled teen would use but it all works to make this a heartfelt story. I would recommend this for adults and mature teens.

Review for Carry Me Home

Some stories merely entertain us, but others grab our hearts and transport them to another time and place where we laugh and cry with a character that it is impossible not to fall in love with. In Sandra Kring¿s Carry Me Home Earl ¿Earwig¿ Gunderman is such a character. Earl¿s mind is simple, but his spirit is so victorious and courageous that even when more ¿normal¿ folks are distraught, Earl never gives up his hope nor retracts his love. When his brother and hero, Jimmy, goes off to war, Earwig leaves behind his play and goes to work to help his parents cope with the war. Then when Jimmy comes home from the war, a shell of the man he used to be, it is Earl¿s simple mind and loving heart that gives Jimmy the strength to overcome the horrors he has experience and to truly live again. Believable, emotionally engaging and masterfully written, Carry Me Home is one of the most inspiring books I have read.

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