Raising Wrecker

November 15, 2010
New Mexico author Wood follows Arroyo with this affecting novel about the rearing of a lovable boy named Wrecker (for his destructive tendencies), who carries the scars of being abandoned at age 3 when his penniless, clueless mother, Lisa Fay, went to prison for drugs. It's early 1969 when Wrecker's uncle, Len, whose wife is brain damaged from an infection, becomes aware of the heft of his guardianship responsibilities as he cares for Wrecker at the Bow Farm hippie commune on the Lost Coast section of Northern California. To "help him go forward," the eccentric residents—young, no-nonsense Southern belle Melody; plaid-clad mother-hen Ruthie; and independent, "short and furry" Johnny Appleseed—of this unconventional cloister take Wrecker into their collective arms. Wrecker is confused and troublesome, and over the years often runs away, but eventually comes to appreciate his alternative family. Complications emerge with a hasty adoption, Len's wife's pneumonia, Wrecker's burgeoning adolescence, and his estranged mother's eagerness to reclaim her teenage son when she's released from prison after almost 15 years, just as Wrecker might be moving past his need to reunite with her. Wood (who was inspired by her own fostering experiences) succeeds with surefooted prose; a lush, earthy California backdrop; and a sensitive story of nurturing and family.

November 1, 2010

A novel that follows the growth of a young boy—appropriately named Wrecker because caution is not a major aspect of his personality—to a man of 20, ready to take off on his own.

The circumstances that bring Wrecker to Bow Farm are unusual. He's born in 1965 to a young woman who three years later is convicted of a crime involving drugs and guns. She's put in prison for the foreseeable future, and her son is claimed by her brother-in-law Len, who doesn't really want the burden and responsibility of a child, especially since Len's wife, Meg, has recently suffered brain damage as the result of an infection. Len lives on a remote farm in the Mattole Valley, in Humboldt County, northern California. Somewhat bewildered by what to do about the boy, he takes him next door to Bow Farm, inhabited by an eccentric band of individualists who try to live off the unforgiving land. Earth Mother Melody is happy to have the boy and begins to raise Wrecker as her own child. Also populating the farm are Willow, who's attracted to Len and eventually begins an affair with him; Johnny Appleseed, who becomes something of an environmental terrorist; and Ruth, an older woman who becomes a grandmother-figure to Wrecker. Meanwhile, Wrecker's mother, Lisa Fay, is working out her sentence in the penitentiary and keeping faith that eventually she'll be reunited with her son. Melody's fear is that her role of adoptive parent is not sanctioned with any piece of paper, so she has no legal claim on the child. We watch the stages of Wrecker's growth from a taciturn and skittish child to a more voluble and less isolated adult. The adults form an extended family for Wrecker and in the process lurch their way through the awkward stages of parenthood.

Wood (Arroyo, 2001) moves her characters gracefully through trying times, both cultural and personal.

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February 1, 2011

Wrecker is a three-year-old boy living in 1968 San Francisco with his mother, Lisa Fay, a single woman struggling to provide a living for her son. When a string of bad decisions results in his mother's arrest and imprisonment, Wrecker goes to live with family he's never met, far away in Humboldt County. His uncle Len is barely able to keep track of him because he's struggling to take care of Meg, his newly disabled wife. Luckily for Wrecker, Len's friends live close by; Melody, Willow, Ruth, and Johnny Appleseed take Wrecker in and raise him. While Lisa Fay is incarcerated, Melody becomes Wrecker's mother, and his memories of his birth mother, both traumatic and loving, fade. But as Wrecker grows to adulthood, he and Melody both must face the truth of his heritage before it shows up on their doorstep. VERDICT A sweet adoptive-home story with extra heart and lovingly flawed characters, this second novel by Wood (Arroyo) will find its home with fans of Jo-Ann Mapson and Pam Houston.--Julie Kane, Sweet Briar Coll. Lib., VA

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