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Nov 22, 2008

LindyLouMac rated it:

http://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/6697...
On my reading list due to being a Richard and Judy recommended read. According to the cover it is the magical story of a young boy’s search for his mother.
I have not read a book I have been so disappointed in for a long time finding it a thoroughly boring and disjointed story of unconditional love.
In theory it sounded Ok, three protagonists Leonard, the little boy deserted by his mother at the age of five. Pearl his very young teenage m More...

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Oct 09, 2011

Lindsay rated it:

In read this book between starting and finishing another one. As my partner and I were moving across the country (with my sister helping) my sister and I decided we could take our "book club" with us on the journey! We decided to get a book on cd that we could listen to on the 3 day drive. My sister picked this one...I'm not sure why but it was a good pick.

We didn't start the book until late on Day 2, but once we started we were pretty hooked. We forced ourselves to take brea More...

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Aug 20, 2009

Stephy rated it:

This book was.....strange. It had it's happy moments and it's sad gut wrenching moments but still...I don't know.

or five years Pearl has managed to keep the past from catching up to her and her bright, frail five-year-old son. Life has given her every reason to mistrust people, but circumstances force her to trust her neighbor Mitch with watching Leonard while she goes off to work. Then one day Pearl drops her son off…and never returns.

They are an unlikely pair: Mitch is More...

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Aug 03, 2009

Persephone rated it:

I came upon this audio-book as a result of a hold failing at the local library. Frustrated and needing something to listen to as I chop vegetables and do other mind-numbing chores, I quickly perused the audio-book shelves and grabbed two possibilities: something called The Delaney Christmas Carol and this. The Delaney thing was a wash-out, within fifteen minutes I yanked it out of the CD player and replaced it with Love in the Present Tense. The difference was almost palpable: much better w More...

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Jan 26, 2010

Alee rated it:

I have heard great things about Funerals for Horses and Pay it Forward, two of Catherine Ryan Hyde's novels. I haven't read either yet, but recognized her name on the cover of Love in the Present Tense. I picked it up hoping for a nice, relatively straightforward read to balance all the schoolwork I'm currently swamped with. I was not disappointed.

Love in the Present Tense revolves around three characters. Pearl, the daughter of a drug addict, becomes pregnant at age 13 with a police More...

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Jan 20, 2009

Julie rated it:

ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITES!!!!! EVERYONE SHOULD READ THIS touching beautiful story full of faith and hope amidst loss and struggle. It's a quick read and SUCH a WONDERFUL story!!! I read this book within that first year of horrible debilitating grief that I went through after Rob died. It was the first light at the end of my dark tunnel. It gave me the first glimpse of hope and peace. I remember finishing it on an airplane fllying back from Vancouver as the sun was setting and the sky wa More...

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Feb 04, 2010

Heather rated it:

Pearl is an eighteen-year-old mother to five-year-old intelligent, precocious Leonard. Mitch is their twenty-five-year-old next door neighbor, who takes care of Leonard during the day while Pearl is at work (he owns his own business, and works out of a home office). One day, Pearl drops Leonard off at Mitch’s in the morning, as usual, and never returns. Love in the Present Tense is a story about how love comes in many shapes and sizes, many different packages, and about how one boy, with no pa More...

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Apr 16, 2008

Julia rated it:

This story took me to an unlikely part of life and really did open my eyes to the varied and suprising forms of Love and relationships that life brings to us if we let it.
An easy read, yet sensitive and dramatic.

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Sep 06, 2009

Kandi rated it:

My friend Kelly recommended this book to me, and I really enjoyed it. It was a heartwrenching story about love and devotion. I cried during this, but was filled with hope during other places. It really makes you think about life and love. It made me reflect and wonder if my children know how much I love them, and I think they possibly cannot understand or comprehend how much. They will not know the full extent of MY love until they hold their own child, and look down on that baby with a face ful More...

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Jul 27, 2011

Pam rated it:

I liked that Pearl was able to give Leonard such security in her love for him - especially since she had never know that kind of love. I feel like she had courage and heart beyond her years to be able to gift forever love to Leonard. She instilled it so deeply that even as a child Leonard was able to show Mitch what it was.

I feel like this book is a lesson that we are all going to be fallible and bunglingly (made up word) human, but that is not an excuse not to make deep connection More...

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Sep 10, 2011

Andrea rated it:

Beautiful. True. Heartwrenching. Realistic. And all about love - "forever love". Pearl, a young mother, drops her five year old with the neighbor and doesn't return. Leonard's life unfolds in the most interesting way.

Felt a particular kinship with one character when he said the following:
"I think if you walked every minute of somebody's life in his shoes, then everything he did would make sense to you, even the bad things. [Y]ou stop seeing differences be More...

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Feb 04, 2009

Mrs. Magoo added it

From www.mrsmagooreads.com

Title: Love in the Present Tense
Author: Catherine Ryan Hyde
Grade: A
Ideal Audience: Boys & Girls 14+
Other book(s) by this author: The Day I Killed James

Summary: Pearl didn't mean to shoot Leonard's father (although, at the time, she didn't know he had fathered anybody), who, just to top things off, was a cop. But she did what she did, so she ran. It was the day of her thirteenth birthday.

Now Leonard is five year More...

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Oct 15, 2008

Nancy rated it:

Told in a variety of perspectives,following three characters. Pearl,a mother with a violent secret neatly tucked away in the undercurrent of her past.Leonard,her son,complete with asthma and a retina issue who happens to be equipped with a remarkable sensitivity and awareness for a child of his age.Finally,Mitch,an unsuspecting yet willing neighbour,one of whom will give the game away if I elaborate any further.Upon further disection I could say that the format,the dipping in and out of each ch More...

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Mar 23, 2008

Marcus rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Feb 18, 2011

Lia rated it:

it was ok, the storyline was quite predictable, the main characters were lovable and likeable. there is nothing out of ordinary and close to reality of lives anyway. the languange is simple yet descriptive as you would expect from 5 year old boy or so. its adaptable and easy and a perfect distraction from my recent book which was booker prize winner and yet so boring. this one is quite captivating and make you smile and happy again. so why not like it?

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Jul 17, 2011

Cathy rated it:

Been a great long while since I read a book straight through. Picked it up at the library yesterday morning and finished this morning. Pulled me in and kept me there. It's about love and all the layers, the hurt, the magic, the loss and the wonderment, but not in a fluffy, gothic way. Real and true works best for me. This wondrous little book embodies the phrase "big things come in small packages". Hats off to Ms Hyde. What a fine writer.

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Aug 06, 2011

Sue rated it:

A lovely read. There are three main characters and each chapter is written from their point of view from different stages of their lives. Extremely heartwarming and enjoyable. I loved the differences of views between an innocent 5 year old's eyes and an adults.

I must admit that when I read the back of the book, I thought I would at some point be crying but it's not like that at all and I'm glad I read it.

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Jul 27, 2011

Cara rated it:

A lovely read. There are three main characters and each chapter is written from their point of view from different stages of their lives. Extremely heartwarming and enjoyable. I loved the differences of views between an innocent 5 year old's eyes and an adults.

I must admit that when I read the back of the book, I thought I would at some point be crying but it's not like that at all and I'm glad I read it.

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Feb 24, 2010

Kristin rated it:

Not what I would call a page-turner that I couldn't put down, but certainly interesting and thought-provoking, while still being an easy/quick read.

I think my favourite parts were reading Leonard's sections - particularly when he was older and remembering events in his childhood. He had such an amazingly positive - almost innocent - way of looking at things. His story could easily be the stuff of a misery memoir - except that he never seems miserable - even when he's beaten up daily More...

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Jun 09, 2009

Jen rated it:

I read this entire book on a flight from Orlando. It started out a bit cliche, but it earned the extra star for suprising me with several characters of unexpected complexity. It pains me to say this (as the subject matter and even the title is a bit cheesy)- but this book was emotionally satisfying (if not a little predictable) on a lot of levels.

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Aug 03, 2009

Jenny rated it:

While the plot of this book was lacking (a character driven book) the characters were fairly interesting and the narration was excellent. However, I never really got into it. Something about the characters just never got under my skin, never made me care about them. This is an okay book, and if I had similar experiences in my life I might have enjoyed it more, but maybe not. Three stars, nothing special, but nothing terrible either.

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Oct 30, 2009

Chana rated it:

This little boy Leonard is born to a mother who loves him and protects him but she disappears when he is 5 leaving him in the care of her next door neighbor Mitch. This is a story of love, what does it mean, how does it feel, how does it manifest, how long does it last. This is among the greatest of love stories that I have ever read.

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Jul 16, 2010

Denise rated it:

This book just never took off for me. I kept reading thinking it would get better. It didn't. It could have been a really good book, it had a good story idea but just wasn't really developed very well. I don't think I would recommend that anyone waste their precious reading time on this book.

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Feb 27, 2010

Robyn rated it:

It always amazes me how opinions of books vary so much. I haven't devoured a book like this in a long time. I started and finished in a 24 hour period because I was hooked. It took me on an emotional journey and I am anxious to read another by this author.

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Oct 24, 2010

Renie rated it:

A touching love story between a man and a boy. Now don't go getting all pedophile on me, this is a father/son-ish relationship that's touching and endearing and well written. The chapters switch back and forth from each perspective.

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Mar 27, 2009

Jonathan rated it:

I thought this would be a bit sappy for my tastes, but I liked it. It was a very sad story, because all the characters ' lives were so messed up, but it was still sweet to see how Mitch and Leonard took care of each other.

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Nov 19, 2011

Jo rated it:

A Richard & Judy's book club recommendation.

You can't help but fall in love with Leonard ... the 5 years old boy with a vision problem. He was just so innocent, real and lovable!

I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

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Nov 19, 2009

Annie rated it:

I really enjoyed reading this; I liked the concept of forever love and warmed was and easy ready, always a bonus! Discussed it at my book group last night and most of them really disliked it - found it depressing etc.

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Apr 15, 2008

Sue rated it:

I picked this one for my book group to read in April. I'm anxious to see what the rest of the group thought. I thought it was well written and a great book. The story is told from several of the characters points of view at different points in their lives. At first it was a little confusing, hard to remember who and when it was, but it didn't take long to get fully engrossed in this story. It tells of a young boy who's mother disappears when he's five and he moves into his next door neighbo More...

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Mar 31, 2008

Tracy rated it:

I was very pleasantly surprised by this book. It was a great story about how love effects all of us. The main character Leonard is a great representation of a kid who can get back on his feet after his mother disappears, simply because he is loved so well by the man whose care he is left in. Mitch, the man in charge of Leonard, loves Leonard with all his heart, even as his own heart is being hurt by a relationship that can never really come to true fruition. The author does a great job of bounci More...

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