Take Me With You Paperback – July 22, 2014

This book gets deep into alcoholism, the effect alcohol abuse has scarred members of the alcoholic's family. The book is sad, yet uplifting. Characters who love each other and go out of their way to help show their affection, though sometimes they are embarrassed by their actions.The story begins when, August Shroeder, a high school science teacher from San Diego has problems with his motor home while driving in California's desert country. Wes, the father of two young boys, is a good mechanic, but an alcoholic. He is going to jail for drinking, a ninety day sentence, he does love his boys. He is a single parent. August, divorced, is visiting the National Parks. This is why I wanted to read this book. I have been to all these parks and wanted to read about them, to take a reading trip this time. I love these parks, they are great and well worth the time to visit them all. August and his dog, Woody, are taking the trip. Why not these two boys who have been nowhere but the California desert. Should this man allow a stranger to take off with his boys?August is taking the ashes of his son, Phillip, his only child, who was nineteen when he was killed when his mother was driving. Both she and August are alcohilics. August joined AA when his son was killed. Maggie still drinks, will not give it up. August goes to AA meetings even when travelling.The two boys, Seth 12, Henry 7, go along the trip. They become close to August. Wes becomes jealous about how much the boys like August. But Wes won't give up drinking, feels left out by his boys. Seth is outgoing, loves rock climb, very intelligent and always asking questions about everything. Henry is quiet, rarely speaks, doesn't relate to others. He has a squeaky voice like a cartoon mouse. Henry is a troubled child who does take a liking to August though when he first met the man he was afraid of him. But he does relate to woody, the dog.A man two boys and a dog enjoy the vacation visiting National Parks in an RV. I enjoyed reading about the trails, the RV trip, everything concerning the parks. The book covers quite a number of parks. August's plan is to visit Yellowstone to throw the ashes of his son on this particular park he and Phillip never got to visit. Another thing about this book is to live life, one never knows when it will all be over. Plus it has much philosophy comments.Some of the places the four go to is worrisome. This is the first book I have read by this author.

The first part of this story, when Seth and Henry unexpectedly join August and they embark on their summer road trip, is interesting overall and in some parts deeply moving. In particular, Seth really wormed his way into my heart. Sure, he doesn't really sound like an authentic 12-year-old. (The way he talked would have been better suited to someone two or three years older.) But with all that he's got on his shoulders, with a mother who abandoned him and a father who neglects him and the responsibility of raising his younger brother, you just marvel at how considerate and thoughtful he is. The little speech he gave when they put some of Phillip's ashes in the fire, it honestly moved me to tears.Not only that, but Seth is just so earnestly eager to please, even to the point of sometimes (unintentionally) being a bit of a pest about it, that you can't help but shake your head and smile. As one passage so wonderfully described it, "It almost made August laugh. Or cry again. It was hard to know which one fit. It was just so perfectly Seth. Always tripping over his own feet, trying to do what you wanted of him, before you even had time to say what that was." I rarely get this invested in fictional characters, but with Seth, I just wanted to wrap him in a big hug and tell him just how wonderful he is and how much I love him.Unfortunately, though, the rest of the book didn't quite work the way I had come to hope it would. I would have wanted to more fully experience the mutual bonding of these three wounded souls over the course of their summer together. But instead, after the first couple of weeks of the trip, the story suddenly jumps ahead almost to the end of the summer. You're barely halfway through the book, and suddenly you find yourself saying, "is it over already?"And then, it jumps again, 8 years into the future. Seth is now a young adult and Henry is a teenager, while August's health is declining. I was gratified to see that they all still love each other, after all this time. The boys show their devotion to August in ways that would honestly be more than what one could reasonably expect. So it's a perfect ending, right? Not for me. To my great dismay, I didn't find Seth to be nearly as lovable, or even likeable, as I did before. Sure, he still cares deeply for August and for Henry. But his single-minded pursuit of rock climbing just seemed so . . . I don't know, selfish, somehow. Some readers might rejoice that he has been able to expand from his other-focused childhood to be able to enjoy things for his own sake. But it made me feel a bit disappointed.This book would have worked better if it had been longer; if it had covered in much more depth their summer together. Though I was glad to see that they were still bonded 8 years later, honestly I wish that Seth could have kept more of the traits that I found so endearing about him. It would have also been nice to have some more detail about what went on during that 8-year interlude. To compensate, the scene where August's ex-wife paid him a visit could have been deleted; I didn't get how it fit in with the rest of the story.