On the surface, Brandon Willard seems like your average eight-year-old boy. He loves his mama, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and G. I. Joe. But Brandon’s life is anything but typical.
Wise beyond his years, Brandon understands he’s the only one in this world he can count on. It’s an outlook that serves him well the day his mama leaves him behind at the Raleigh bus station and sets off to Canada with “her destiny” — the latest man that she hopes will bring her happiness. The day 
his mother leaves, Brandon takes the first step toward shaping his own destiny. Soon he sends himself spending pleasant days playing with his cousins on his grandparents’ farm and trying to forget the past. In the safety of that place, Brandon finally is able to trust the love of an adult to help iron out the wiry places until his nerves are as steady as any other boy’s.
But when Sophie Willard shows up a year later with a determined look in her eye and a new man in tow, Brandon’s grandparents ignore a judge’s ruling and flee the state with Brandon. Creating a new life and identity in a small Florida town, Brandon meets the people who will fill him with self-worth and self-respect. He slowly becomes involved with “God’s Hospital,” a church run by the gregarious Sister Delores, a woman who is committed to a life of service for all members of the community, black and white, regardless of some townsfolk’s disapproval.
This contemporary novel is selling for $2.99 today.
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Wonderful novel! First read it when the Atlanta Journal Constitution named it a best novel of the year. A coming of age story that brings to mind To Kill A Mockingbird. It pulls at the heartstrings without being too sugary.
“An emotionally charged work that is as timely as it is touching.”
— The Dallas Morning News
“…impressive achievement…entertaining and affecting.”
—St. Louis Post-Dispatch
“Slow Way Home is one of those rare finds….it should become a classic.”
—Tampa Tribune
“Slow Way Home is a novel for the heart. It is pitch perfect and the character Brandon is going to linger in a lot of minds. The opening chapter is one of the most poignant and powerful I have ever read. This is a fine book.”
— New York Times best-selling author Anne Rivers Siddons
“Slow Way Home is a gem –both gritty and heartwarming at once. A wonderful, emotional read.”
—Lee Smith
“In a remarkably consistent narrative voice, Morris takes us along for a moving, funny ride…”
—Silas House, author of Clay’s Quilt and A Parchment of Leaves
“Morris excels in creating the child’s voice…. an inspiring portrait of a true survivor.”
—BookPage
“Slow Way Home is a warm, witty, fresh, and innovative novel.”
—Homer Hickam, author of October Sky
“Slow Way Home is a journey of the human spirit and its themes… make it a novel for the ages.”
—Richard Paul Evans, author of The Christmas Box
Melanie –
Thank you for your recommendation. And to be named the best novel of the year is high praise indeed. I’ll put it in my top choices in the Kindle Store next week (if the price is still holding).
–Paula