The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell: A Novel

It's a beautiful story I didn't fully appreciate until the end! So well developed, you find yourself living the emotions and memories of these characters and finding relationships with each of them. Highly recommend!

I adored Sam and his parents, and the lifelong friendship between Sam, Ernie, and Mickie is, well, extraordinary. The prejudice Sam faces due to his ocular albinism is excruciatingly painful, and David Freemon is pure evil. One of the main motifs in the book is the questioning of faith. What I found challenging was the ending; it was full of preachy platitudes and a too-quick (I thought) jump on the Catholic bandwagon. Still, a heartwarming read.

I really liked this book and thought that it was a touching story about a catholic family and their 'extraordinary" son, Sam. From the moment I started listening to the book, I was absorbed in the world of Sam, his parents, and his friends, Ernie and Mickey. Each character is well-developed and well-rounded and adds their own spark to the story.
This book is the story of a boy who spends his life being judged by appearance. Unfortunately, our society continues to look too much at the shell and not remember it's what's inside that makes us who we really are.
“Our skin, our hair, and our eyes are simply the shell that surrounds our soul, and our soul is who we are. What counts is on the inside.”
I highly recommend this book - it's a great story that the author also narrates wonderfully as well.

Good book.

December 2020-Monica