Customer Reviews

Days of Little Texas

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I started reading this book with some skepticism. I get very tired of books that are sappy and "over-Christianized" so as to deviate from reality and the world as we know it. I also get very tired of books that make Christians out to be idiots and hypocrites simply because they're Christians.

So as I said, I started into this story as a skeptic because the main character is a child evangelist--words that make me want to hurl. The first page caught me off guard, though, as it starts with a quasi wet dream as experienced by our child evangelist. There was no detail, thankfully, but it made me read further than I would have otherwise. I'm glad I did, because what this book does is tell a coming of age story about a young man who is experiencing normal teenage feelings and trying to put them into the perspective of his faith.

Little Texas lost his parents at a young age because of alcoholism and a host of other dysfunctions. He went to live with his aunt, Miss Wanda Joy, who is no joy to anyone living or dead. His "gift" is discovered and he goes on the road, preaching and healing, along with Miss Wanda Joy and two elderly black men who befriend and mentor the young boy. As his preoccupation with sexual urgings and thoughts grows, Little Texas questions his faith and his worthiness to be used by God.

What we find out about Little Texas is that he's the real deal. He really is used by God to bring a message and healing to the people who come to his tent meetings. One night, he is unable to heal a little girl and that's when the story begins to take off. Little Texas finds himself involved in something bigger and so far outside of his understanding that he must rely on his heart and a ghost, or spirit, whichever you prefer, to guide him. The climax is emotional and life changing, not only to the main character, but to the reader as well.

The elements of slavery and enslavement (2 different things in this story) are woven throughout. Through the spirit guide and the spiritual warfare that he has to face, Little Texas learns that truth is actually bigger than his Christian training had allowed him to believe before. Just as black slaves were in bondage to their masters, and just as the masters were in bondage to their sin, Little Texas was in bondage to his limited view of God and the definition of truth he had been taught to embrace. At the end of the story, his character is changed and his faith is intact.

Throughout the story, the author never criticizes Little Texas' world view or makes his faith appear to be his biggest problem. Even at the end of the story, his faith remains, even though his understanding of God and truth grows significantly. I have to say, I have never read a story quite like this one and I respect the author for telling it without making political or religious commentary about the Christian faith.

Finally, I recommend this story for middle schooler, teenagers and young adults. There is no profanity and very little sexual inuendo--only enough to bring authenticity to Little Texas' experience. Very well written. Highly, highly, highly recommended.

Length:: 3:06 Mins

Some teens probably won't know who I'm talking about when I refer to Elmer Gantry, but that's what I was reminded of when reading the first part of Days of Little Texas. Initially, this book expertly captures all the feel of an old time revival meeting. I thought this book was taking place in the thirties and kept getting jarred back to present day by casual references to things like rest stops and the Iraq war. Smack dab in the middle of this old time story is a modern day 16 year old kid who will just break your heart. His struggles with adolescence while he deals with the burden of leading a ministry and being seen by thousands as a modern day miracle worker are poignant and heart wrenching.

The story really gets moving when Little Texas is called upon to heal Lucy, a young girl brought to him suffering not from a chronic illness, but in the midst of a medical emergency. He performs the healing, but knows that this time was different and has a gut instinct that Lucy didn't survive. It's when she then begins to appear to him as a ghost, that the second, supernatural part of the story sets in.
The author has written a real humdinger of a ghost story here. While there's virtually no action till the very end, there were moments that were so scary and so expertly written they made the hair on the back of my neck stand up! I love it when authors create images that can be visualized so clearly.

The characters of Little Texas, Wanda Joy, Certain Certain, and Sugar Tom are all so vivid and real that they carry this story. They practically leap off the page and are right at home in a book that while it may be short on action, is rich in atmosphere. Everything winds up to a huge climax pitting Little Texas against the forces of evil. There are plenty of surprises at the end, and while I was left wanting to know more, more, more, I was still very happy with the resolution. This is a recommend for teens 14 and up. Adults will find quite a bit to enjoy here too, so don't pass this one by.

This book is such a conundrum to me; i can't decide if i liked it or not.

"Days of Little Texas" is written with an authentic voice, with colorful, flawed but lovable characters, and rich settings, AND YET, it's so hard to keep reading when you realize that NOTHING IS HAPPENING except a bunch of boring road trip commentaries and A LOT of religious talk. It literally takes almost 200 pages for the meat of the plot to actually start! I generally don't have the kind of patience requires sticking with a boring book for so long, but i just loved something about these characters.

As to the religious element of this novel, which is absolutely dripping off of every page of this book, I honestly don't know how someone who isn't a Christian would be able to stand so much of it. Even for me, a born-again Christian, it was a bit much. I understand the author was trying to illustrate the intensity of these people's devotion to God, but really, for a casual reader i'm sure this would be a big turn-off, especially for a teen who is not into Christianity. The "Christianity" displayed here is NOT what mainstream Christians are like, although i do feel these characters were sincere in their beliefs, which was admirable on the author's part. It's so easy to make people like these the target of jokes & satire, and i felt the author was very respectful towards them. I found the twisting of supernatural and Christianity very interesting, and while it brought up things that generally are not believed by Christians, i think they were handled with care, and i was never outright appalled at the conclusions the author was making. I know I'm being vague, but it's difficult to explain more without giving away crucial parts of the story.

I'm still not sure if i would recommend this book to others or not... but despite the strange over-abundance of religion in a secular book, and the shortcomings of the first half of the book, the second half is fast-paced, thrilling and satisfying. So i suppose the correct conclusion is that if you're a patient reader, you might enjoy this one.

Ronald "Little Texas" Earl is a 16 year old revival preacher. Faith healer since the age of 10 when a heart attack victim is revived by his touch, Ronald and his guardians travel around preaching and healing. One day he heals a girl in a blue dress. When she starts showing up again in various places, he starts to wonder whether she is following him or haunting him...

Like some of the other reviewers, I'm a bit befuddled why this is considered a teen book. Other than the fact that the main character is a teenager, this certainly reads like an adult novel...and the plot doesn't really strike me as one that would interest young people...

Nonetheless, this is a well-written, unique, and interesting story. The tent evangelism culture is not portrayed in a mocking tone. The Christians in the book are shown foibles and all, but they are portrayed fairly. So many writers give in to the cliched notion that religious people in books must necessarily turn out to be the bad guys. In "Days Of Little Texas" they are eccentric certainly...even weird...but most of the time their hearts are in the right place...

This is a gripping story with engaging and quirky characters. I heartily recommend it for those who enjoy reading books that don't really fit well into a specific genre. This book is definitely strange and unique, but in a good way...

Little Texas is a child preacher, the son of a pot farmer and a meth addict who is taken over by a Pentecostal aunt and brought to the Lord. His call is real; he feels the true Spirit coursing through him when he preaches and he's a faith healer. But he's also a sixteen year-old boy who doesn't understand the very normal awakening of his body and his longing for a regular life, and it all gets centered around a girl who appears to be... dead.

Is Lucy really a ghost? Is she a demon? Is she just a figment of his adolescent longings? The book is smart enough not to answer those questions until the very end. In the meantime, we have some beautifully realized characters (especially Certain Certain) and suspenseful goings-on at a flooded plantation.

I obviously enjoyed the book a great deal, even with the short, cliffhanger chapter breaks and Little's unbelievable innocence. But I don't think this book would appeal to the average middle-schooler, concerned as it is with the mind-body question. It's is also problematic because the religious elements are so strong that they might put off nonreligious people, and the metaphysical overtones are so strong that they might put off religious people. But Lucy's insistence on Little's enlarging the scope of his faith is actually a very beautiful message.

I would be fascinated to hear what an actual YA reader thinks of this book, and will check back to see if any reviews by young readers are posted.

DAYS OF LITTLe TEXAS is original and well-written for the most part, though it has some tedious parts. For one thing, the theology is a bit vauge and the story a little muddled. We feel sympathy for the main character, a ''preaching prodigy'' who is trying to deal with various changes in his life. The two elderly men who are his friends are also likable, but his aunt just seems greedy and selfish. The supernatural elements of the story are what make it a unique novel. This book has a lot of vivid imagery, but the dialogue sections go on for too long in some cases. This is a fine piece of work that could be made better with the work of an editor.

I felt that Days of Little Texas was a unique read, but not a page turner. The book cover really captured my attention first and then the title, without knowing what the story was about. The story was not what I would classify as memorable, but it was entertaining.

You may ask, what was entertaining? The boy wonder preacher and the revival circuit as described in the book. It gets a little bit of intrigue when the girl is introduced and the mystery that surrounds her character.

Brothers and Sisters, please put your hands together for Ronald Earl Pettway, aka Little Texas--the faith-healing child evangelist who takes the spotlight in R.A. Nelson's latest novel, DAYS OF LITTLE TEXAS.

Ronald Earl's youth is scarred by tragedy. His father is sent to prison for growing marijuana in the crawl space under their trailer home. Soon afterward, his mother's corpse is discovered among the wreckage of a meth lab explosion. Miss Wanda Joy King--his great aunt, a sturdy Pentecostal woman--provides the newly orphaned boy with food and shelter, but not much else.

Ronald Earl's watching old-time evangelist Sugar Tom Walker preach up a storm in San Angelo, Texas, when Fate comes knockin' at his front door. Thunder clouds roll in, and a bolt of lightening strikes his friend, Certain Certain. When Ronald Earl lays a comforting hand on his motionless chest, the old man's body shudders back to life. "You resurrected him!" a bystander cries, and when someone hands him a microphone, he gives an electrifying speech to an enthusiastic audience. "Ten years old, and the Holy Ghost comes up inside me for the very first time," he marvels.

And thus begins Little Texas's faith-healing ministry. Throngs of believers flock to his services, chanting his name and expecting miracles. Sugar Tom and Certain Certain serve as stage hands, while Miss Wanda Joy acts as Chief Operating Officer in his evangelical enterprise.

By the time he's sixteen, the mantle of responsibility is resting heavy on Little Texas's shoulders. Plagued by sexual thoughts he can't seem to control, he's awash in feelings of guilt and unworthiness. Shackled to the straight and narrow, he yearns to break free of others' expectations.

It is at this juncture that two distraught parents plead with him to save Lucy, their sick daughter, from certain death. His eyes drift over her lifeless body, barely covered by a thin blue dress. Though his spiritual energy falters in the face of this temptation, the little girl seems to gather strength as he prays.

In each new town, Miss Wanda Joy seizes the opportunity for another revival meeting. And in every doorway, Little Texas sees the blond-haired girl in the blue dress. Is she another of his ardent followers, he wonders, or is he falling in love with a ghost?

The story reaches its dramatic conclusion at the Vanderloo Plantation, where legend has it that the Devil himself once wrestled an evangelist--and won. Here, Little Texas and Lucy come face-to-face with their personal demons. And in this haunted place, a final plot twist helps weave together twin themes: light and darkness, belief and doubt, love and loss.

While this book is intended for young adult audiences, I believe it has crossover appeal for older readers who enjoy stretching the boundaries of their imagination. The author does a fantastic job of creating atmosphere, using colorful, region-specific descriptions and dialect. And as the daughter of a faith-healing evangelist who's spent many an hour in Pentecostal revival meetings, I especially appreciated the authentic-sounding cadence of Little Texas's sermons. With a deft hand and a light touch, Nelson expertly portrays the unique stylings of an itinerant preacher. Even so, I found myself wishing he had written more sensory details into the tent revival scenes, to help them come alive for those who aren't familiar with this slice of Americana. And I wondered if readers without a Bible background might struggle with some of the scriptural references. Still, I admired the skill with which Nelson threaded paranormal and spiritual elements into the fabric of this unusual love story--and that he pulled them together in an entertaining, provocative way.

Days of Little Texas is a gem. We see life (and death) through the eyes of a teenage protagonist, Little Texas, a charismatic evangelical who preaches with a P.T. Barnum flair and a messianic fervor. He heals a young woman who is gripped by illness. Or does he? The book unravels the mystery of this girl. Along the way, Little Texas is swept up and entangled in a startling revelation. He discovers the truth about terrible secrets which have been buried for generations.

The book is also a study in contrasts; the darkness of secrets and sin contrasted with the light of truth and courage, the buoyant power of love versus the weight of cruelty, and the power of forgiveness versus the manipulation of guilt.

Is it a love story? Or is it a ghost story? Maybe both. I don't know; I just know it's good.