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51st out of 262 books
—
125 voters
Greyhound
by
Steffan Piper (Goodreads Author)
Sebastien Ranes's single mom and her feckless boyfriend can't be bothered to take care of a stuttering twelve-year-old. Banished to live with his grandmother on the far side of the country, the boy can barely understand a bus schedule when he gets dumped at the Greyhound station in Stockton, California. Given $35 and a one-way ticket to Altoona, Pennsylvania, Sebastien mus...more
Paperback, 240 pages
Published
April 20th 2010
by AmazonEncore
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Sweet and heartfelt. There are so many perfect descriptions of the 80's here. The author balances humor and heartbreak as his character discovers that his mother simply does not love him enough. Rather than try to win her love, Sebastian realizes that others can fill this void if he lets them. A touching and memorable story.
What do you do once you've sat in your seat on the airplane, and you're either sitting next to someone who has similarly been slid into the seat with a shoe horn, or you're waiting for the person to take the seat next to you? A majority of the people who have been seat mates on an airplane have immediately put their nose in a book, or pulled out their crescent shaped pillow and closed their eyes. But I have had some of the most amazing conversations with people who were willing to engage with an...more
http://onesweetshannon.tumblr.com/pos...
A lifelong reader now in my later 30’s, it’s rare that I finish something and declare it one of my all-time favorites. I mean, that is reserved for the books that I have loved for decades and have read and re-read more than I can remember. I think the last books to be added to my favorites were Sons and Lovers and The Rainbow, both by D.H. Lawrence, that entered the list in my early 20’s.
Enter the newcomer — Steffan Piper’s Greyhound. I hope it finds a wi...more
A lifelong reader now in my later 30’s, it’s rare that I finish something and declare it one of my all-time favorites. I mean, that is reserved for the books that I have loved for decades and have read and re-read more than I can remember. I think the last books to be added to my favorites were Sons and Lovers and The Rainbow, both by D.H. Lawrence, that entered the list in my early 20’s.
Enter the newcomer — Steffan Piper’s Greyhound. I hope it finds a wi...more
A contemporary Huck Finn with a trip on a Greyhound Bus from California to Pennsylvania taking the place of the raft ride down the Mississippi. Sebastian Raines is a 12-year-old boy whose mother dumps him on the bus to go live with his grandparents back East while she runs off to wed her latest boyfriend and get him out of her life. On the way Sebastian encounters all kinds of adventures - including crazy drivers and a would-be child molester. He's protected from these dangers by Marcus, a wise...more
Loved this book - easy read but a real feel good. Great for YA and book clubs. A coming of age story that shows how one person can make a huge difference in the life of another. Don't want to give too much away!
NWE!! Our book club selected this book to read. Two of our members, Melanie and Cheryl were posting about the book, and all of a sudden the author chimed in! He left a detailed message about the story that was very enlightening. The story is very autobiographical, and he did have a Greyho...more
NWE!! Our book club selected this book to read. Two of our members, Melanie and Cheryl were posting about the book, and all of a sudden the author chimed in! He left a detailed message about the story that was very enlightening. The story is very autobiographical, and he did have a Greyho...more
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Greyhound is the story of Sebastien Raines, a timid white boy about to turn twelve who is abandoned by his Mother who drops him off at a Greyhound station in Stockton, CA with thirty bucks and a ticket to his father's parents in Altoona, PA. Very soon after leaving Sebastien meets Marcus, a young black man recently released from prison travelling to visit his mother in New York City. Marcus will become a profound influence upon Sebastien, teaching him about Langston Hughes, respecting others whi...more
The book opens with a young boy (12) waiting sleeplessly in his room for his mom and her new boyfriend to come back. He is all packed, ready for a trip across the country. But this isn't a fun vacation -- his mother is sending him on a Greyhound bus from Stockton, California to Altoona, Pennsylvania. Chain-smoking and impatient, she can't wait to dump him so that she can run off to get married (again) without being bogged down by her son. Sebastien is shy, he stutters, he knows nothing about bus...more
If Ralphie road the bus...
I'm a huge fan of "A Christmas Story" based on Jean Shepherd'sIn God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash.
As I settled into reading Greyhound, I found myself drawing parallels to the narrative voice each of these stories has.
Both focus on a young boy, yet the over arching voice has the feel of an older version of the boy's self. While Shepherd indeed told his tale in a recollection way, Piper easily assigns more mature attributes to young Sebastian.
I found myself laughing alou...more
I'm a huge fan of "A Christmas Story" based on Jean Shepherd'sIn God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash.
As I settled into reading Greyhound, I found myself drawing parallels to the narrative voice each of these stories has.
Both focus on a young boy, yet the over arching voice has the feel of an older version of the boy's self. While Shepherd indeed told his tale in a recollection way, Piper easily assigns more mature attributes to young Sebastian.
I found myself laughing alou...more
GREYHOUND captures the spirit of a life-altering road-trip in the company of two memorable characters and with incredible, authentic, real-time detail. Sebastien Ranes is 11 years old when he gets on the bus in Stockton, CA and a whole lot older when he disembarks in Altoona, PA three days and one birthday later. His safe arrival, and much of the education he receives en route, are courtesy of the ex-con who befriends him, Marcus Franklin. The dangers facing a young kid traveling alone are broug...more
May 27, 2012
Jen Lepp
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
young-adult,
fiction
Parents non-caring can scar, and this book will relentlessly remind you of that fact. Small kindnesses can be healing, too, and the book celebrates that in many, many ways.
Greyhound begins with 11 year old Sebastien Ranes's waiting for his mother and her new man to come home from a bar so that they can being him to the Stockton, California, Greyhound station. A ticket to Altoona, Pennsylvania and $35 dollars is all she gives him for the 3.5 day tip across the country alone - she withholds any hu...more
Greyhound begins with 11 year old Sebastien Ranes's waiting for his mother and her new man to come home from a bar so that they can being him to the Stockton, California, Greyhound station. A ticket to Altoona, Pennsylvania and $35 dollars is all she gives him for the 3.5 day tip across the country alone - she withholds any hu...more
" '...here's your first lesson. Don't wrap yourself up in all the bad stuff, and definitely don't expect everything to always go against you. Sometimes...' he sat back, considering his words, '...you just don't know. Things usually have a way of working out for the best.' "
Just days before his 12th birthday, Sebastien Ranes is placed on a Greyhound bus by his indifferent mother and sent on a 3-day cross-country trip - by himself - to live with his grandparents. Scared and alone, Sebastien strugg...more
Just days before his 12th birthday, Sebastien Ranes is placed on a Greyhound bus by his indifferent mother and sent on a 3-day cross-country trip - by himself - to live with his grandparents. Scared and alone, Sebastien strugg...more
Ugh. I really wanted to like this book. The story is good--poor kid with a negligent mother is sent to live with his grandma across the country, and travels three days aboard a Greyhound bus, making new friends, having adventures, and learning life lessons. Two main problems: one, Piper is (to me) an annoying writer. I personally love the word SAID, as in, "Hello," I said. Piper HATES the word SAID but LOVES dialogue, which goes like this: "Thank you," I uttered, "Hello," I stated, and "Good mor...more
Wish I could give 2.5 stars. I wanted to like this more than I did. Good premise--11-year-old Sebastian is put on a bus by his no-good mother and her boyfriend, Dick,in California, bound for his grandmother in Altoona, PA. On his journey, he finds the good and the bad in people. Lots to like, but I found the voice distractingly uneven--mostly like an 11-year-old boy, but then that grownup voice kept breaking through. Other peeves: it feels like I've been reading about way too many nice Black cha...more
I loved this book. Fortunately Amazon had this book as one of their daily specials, so I was able to buy it for only $1.99. And it was well worth it.
Although Greyhound takes place over the course of only a few days, it contains a lifetime worth of emotion and self discovery for Sebastian Ranes. At only eleven years old, Sebastian is put on a Greyhound bus that will be traveling from California to Pennsylvania. This bus ride forces Sebastian to face his demons when he meets a fellow cross-country...more
Although Greyhound takes place over the course of only a few days, it contains a lifetime worth of emotion and self discovery for Sebastian Ranes. At only eleven years old, Sebastian is put on a Greyhound bus that will be traveling from California to Pennsylvania. This bus ride forces Sebastian to face his demons when he meets a fellow cross-country...more
I came across this book thanks to a Goodreads giveaway, and I'm so glad that I did. It's a mix of road-trip/coming of age story, and it's one that I read very happily over the course of the last few days. I'm reading quite a few books at the same time at the moment - nothing new there - but I looked forward to picking this one up each time.
The main character, eleven year old Sebastien, is really well crafted, and this is the story of his road trip across America by Greyhound bus. I was surprised...more
The main character, eleven year old Sebastien, is really well crafted, and this is the story of his road trip across America by Greyhound bus. I was surprised...more
I read this merely because I was inundated with the ads on my Goodreads and Amazon accounts and finely succumbed to the constant barrage of animated boxes proclaiming that I was certain to love it. "Love" is certainly a strong word for an inadvertently quiet and easy book like Greyhound, although I did enjoy the experience in the way one enjoys something your TiVo records for you, something you never would have recorded on your own but when you have an hour to kill you're certainly thankful that...more
Greyhound is one of those books that stays with you long after you've turned the last page. It’s one of those books you hate to put down. A book you can’t wait to get back to.
The story follows 11 year old, Sebastian, as he embarks on a solo cross country bus trip. His mother has shipped him off to his grandparents so she can begin life again with a new husband and no baggage.
Sebastian meets a number of Greyhound employees, bus drivers, and passengers, some good, some not so good, along the way....more
The story follows 11 year old, Sebastian, as he embarks on a solo cross country bus trip. His mother has shipped him off to his grandparents so she can begin life again with a new husband and no baggage.
Sebastian meets a number of Greyhound employees, bus drivers, and passengers, some good, some not so good, along the way....more
This was excellent. An unlikely hero, a kid who has to grow up and a never-to-be-forgotten journey. Just excellent!
Got this cheap for Kindle--wanted to read it since it came out. It has not yet disappointed!
Got this cheap for Kindle--wanted to read it since it came out. It has not yet disappointed!
From the moment I started reading Greyhound, I was hooked by the main character, a 12 year old boy about to board a bus across America alone so that his mother's new husband won't have to raise a child that isn't his own. Sebastian is a wonderful character- naive and sensitive and astonishingly open-minded given his situation. It is so telling that is he surprised every time an adult reacts take-aback by his mother's decision to pack him off to PA on a bus; he apparently expects nothing better.
T...more
T...more
I really enjoyed this book. Young Sebastien is a very real boy who has been sheltered from many things in life, though not from disappointment and abuse. He often withdraws deeply and frighteningly, yet has a wonderful capacity to treat everyone he meets with an open, accepting mind. Marcus, who becomes his seatmate & friend during much of the bus trip, treats him as an individual and as an adult (almost - he does look out for him when Sebastien's age requires it). I loved how Marcus gave hi...more
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I enjoyed this, although I suspected throughout there was a much better book lurking within. The young protagonist's journey across the U.S. via Greyhound bus is just a tad too absurd -- at various times, there's a hijacking, psychotic bus driver, kidnapping, consuming fire and death -- and precious (the wise black man who befriends Sebastien is nicely drawn but too Morgan Freeman-ish) to make you fully buy into the tale of a youth transitioning into the joy and pain of adulthood. Plus there was...more
Usually I groan when I see yet another book with an adolescent protagonist, but I loved this book. An almost-twelve Sebastien travels from Stockton, California, to Altoona, Pennsylvanis via Greyhound all alone - until Marcus (one of the most honorable and likable ex-cons ever) boards the bus. Their unlikely friendship is the heart of this story and what heart it has! The evocation of the varied Greyhound bus terminals and the people that Sebastien meets along the way are wonderful. Sebastien is...more
Just before his 12th birthday in 1981, Sebastien's mother puts him on a bus to make the cross-country trek from California to his paternal grandparents' home in Pennsylvania. This tells you everything you need to know about good-old mom. She basically wants him out of the way so she can marry another shining example of the human race. Along the way, Sebastien faces some dangers, makes some friends, experiences some adventures, and learns a lot about himself and the world around him. It reads mor...more
This is a totally different take on a cross country road trip and while it is at its heart a coming-of-age tale, it's like none I've ever read. I loved the main character, Sebastian and was blown away by his youth, yet wiser in years personality. His inner dialogue was engaging, and I loved his oberservations and descriptions of the world around him. I loved the detail in defineing his mother, her aloofness, her selfishness and neglect. I was routing for Sebbie all the way. I also appreciated th...more
I've survived a few long-distance Greyhound trips (though fortunately never cross-country, ouch!), and some family angst (though fortunately not to the degree of young Sebastian, ouch again!), and picked this book off the new releases shelf on a whim. I figured it would be a quick read to pass some free time on a weekend retreat. I wasn't expecting to enjoy it anywhere near as much as I did. The synopsis on the back makes it sound like it's going to be a series of amusing encounters along the vo...more
I absolutely adored this book. I couldn't wait to read what was going to happen next to the poor little guy. I just wanted to reach into the book and hold him.
I love coming of age stories. There's something about seeing a character 'become' that makes everything in my body down to my bones cry 'yes!'. I especially loved following Sebastian and watching him 'become'.
I've taken the Greyhound a few times, and man does it take years off of your life (or in Sebastian's case, put years on it). But there is something magnetic about the Greyhound that brings all of these fascinating, scary, and wonderful people together in one place for a concentrated, satur...more
I've taken the Greyhound a few times, and man does it take years off of your life (or in Sebastian's case, put years on it). But there is something magnetic about the Greyhound that brings all of these fascinating, scary, and wonderful people together in one place for a concentrated, satur...more
a 12 year old boy is put on a bus in Stockton, CA to go to his grandparents in Pennsylvania. His mother is re-marrying and doesn't have time for him anymore. He has an interesting journey, not only in events that happen (a bus-jacking, an almost child abduction/molestation) but also he grows up -- a lot! He's befriended by Marcus, a former convict who is going to New York to visit his mother on his release from prison. An unlikely "couple" they are drawn together during the trip and both learn f...more
Greyhound brought back memories of traveling by bus in the late 1970s ("a dog of a way to go”). Piper is spot on with his descriptions of conditions--smells, people, food—-one was likely to encounter. The story is set in 1981, a time not only of bus travel, but also phone booths and calling collect through an operator, letters, and Walkmans that played cassette tapes. Sebastien Ranes, an eleven-year-old boy who turns twelve while traveling solo from California to Pennsylvania, is both naïve and...more
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Born in Pennsylvania in 1971 and raised in England and various parts of Alaska. Attended school at the University of Alaska, Anchorage and the University of Los Angeles, California.
Once a resident of Alaska, the Mayor of Nome asked him to 'leave and never return,' due to a minor misunderstanding.
Steffan Piper currently lives on the outskirts of Los Angeles with his family. Most of his writing occu...more
More about Steffan Piper...
Once a resident of Alaska, the Mayor of Nome asked him to 'leave and never return,' due to a minor misunderstanding.
Steffan Piper currently lives on the outskirts of Los Angeles with his family. Most of his writing occu...more
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