You know, I liked this book. It seems really current right now. The story is based partly on Grisham's childhood growing up on a cotton farm. The book touches on subjects such as co-housing, floods and natural disaster, migrant workers, diversity, and economic challenges facing farmers and their families. The story is told through the eyes of a 7-year-old boy. This was my only beef about the book. The narrator seemed more developmentally mature than 7 and seemed closer to puberty in some scenes. But, oh well. A very nice story. Thoughtful, with authentic characters and a charming and believable bittersweet view of small-town Arkansas in the early 1950s. What I liked most about this book was how consciousness this young boy, Luke, was about the lives swirling around him and how much work he did on the farm. I constantly thought of the impact such a strong and rugged beginning of a childhood rank with responsibility must have had on Grisham's sensiblility -- and power -- as a writer. Served him well.