Lost in the Midwest

  Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger
Eleven-year-old Reuben Land narrates this book about his unconventional childhood in rural Minnesota in 1962.  His teenage brother kills some bullies (justified or not) and later escapes from jail during the trial.  Reuben, his precocious younger sister and their saintly father embark on a road trip looking for their older brother, with the feds hot on their trail.  It’s kind of an unusual book, which isn’t to say I didn’t like it - I did.  There is the conventional narrative with the the older brother’s disappearance and the family’s search for him, and then there is a bit of Christian mysticism.  Does the dad really perform miracles?  Or does the  unreliable narrator (a child, after all) just see things that way?  Some minor complaints -  the mother’s absence was barely mentioned and that part of the story didn’t seem fleshed out.  Also, the sister was like a 30-year-old trapped in a 9-year-old’s body.  All of the characters were a little too perfect and likable - kids too well behaved, Dad too Christ-like.  The only exception is the older brother - he actually seemed more nuanced.  Unfortunately, he wasn't in the book much (he was more of a plot device than a character.)  It’s kind of a children’s story, but not really.  In short - I liked this book, but I didn’t love it.  Maybe the religious angle was what kept me from fully embracing it.