Jay [Paperback]

Royce W. Adams (Author), W. Royce Adams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2005

In this colorful sequel to "Me & Jay," 16-year-old Jay Thornton is orphaned and "catches out" on a freight train to avoid placement in a foster home. Instead of a romantic hobo lifestyle, Jay discovers constant physical dangers, frequent hunger, and the fear of being caught by train gangs or angry railroad police. His adventures on the run, and contact with homeless drifters, force him to examine his personal values and the friendships he's left behind. He must decide whether to join a subculture on the fringe of society, or return to a new life in the familiar place he's known as home. The story delivers action-packed excitement, tempered by hard lessons that show why a romantic escape fantasy often proves harder than facing reality.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

W. Royce Adams, emeritus professor of English at Santa Barbara City College, is the award-winning author of the Rairarubia Tales series, The Computer's Nerd, and Me & Jay. A past president of the College Reading and Learning Association, he is now retired and living in California.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 13 and up
  
• Paperback: 122 pages
• Publisher: UNLIMITED PUBLISHING LLC and Rairarubia Press (February 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1588321207
• ISBN-13: 978-1588321206
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,860,262 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Loved it!, June 10, 2005

By 

Detra Fitch (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jay (Paperback)

Jay Thornton is sixteen-years-old. When his mom died, Jay knew he would be put in a foster home. Fear of the unknown had him running away instead. Jay "catches out" on a freight train thinking he would live the romantic hobo lifestyle, foot loose, free, and no one to tell him what to do. Instead, Jay discovers constant physical dangers, the fear of being caught by train gangs or the police, hunger, and facing the elements.

He joins another young man, only slightly older, who goes by the alias Liberty Two. As Jay slowly learns the life of the hobo, he does much thinking. Will he remain a hobo and merge into its hard lifestyle? Or will he return to the town he lived in and see if a foster home could give him a chance of a better life?

***** This is the sequel to a previous teen novel titled "Me & Jay". You do not have to read the first to enjoy this one though. This book begins two years after the previous book ended. Watching Jay, as his travels went along, gave me a glimpse into a subculture that I never dreamed existed. This story is a real eye opener. Though the story is fiction, the names in the book are real. The author lived this life for a time (and has the scar to prove it, according to the Forward in the book). Therefore, the author's experience allowed realism to shine through in his writing. I recommend both books, but this one is the best of the two, in my opinion. *****

Reviewed by Detra Fitch of Huntress Reviews.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a super read!, October 14, 2005

By 

Rebecca Brown "rebeccasreads" (Clallam Bay, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jay (Paperback)

Rebeccasreads highly recommends JAY for teens who think running away will solve all their problems.

You might have met Jay before, in ME & JAY. Now, after his Mom's died, he is faced with being taken care of by the state. Instead, he puts his stuff: a photo of his Mom, a Swiss Army knife, & a twenty-dollar bill into his back pack, & jumps on a freight train heading... anywhere...

Along the way, somewhere in the American Midwest, in a world where huge freight trains & flat cars can maim or kill in an instance, Jay survives a hobo round-up by an armed gang of thieves; days & nights of fear, cold & hunger... until he meets up with a youngster like him who teaches Jay a thing or two about avoiding trouble.

Then they find a group of older hobos with a roaring camp fire, food to spare & lots of interesting stories to tell.

While W. Royce Adams has written a fine & riveting adventure about a boy on the run who joins the sub-culture of the hobos, & includes a lot of history, & scenes of fun as well as danger, he does not encourage or romanticize this lifestyle.

Outstanding!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very good piece of children's literature, June 7, 2005

By 

Gary H. Cassel "Flamingnet Teen Book Reviews" (Baltimore, MD, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Jay (Paperback)

Four years have passed; more than can be imagined has changed. Jay, now sixteen, is a hobo living a life on the tracks. Having nowhere to live after the death of his mother, the only remaining member of his family, he must ride the freight trains to escape a foster home. After being caught by the bulls, or Freight Train Police, he needs to be more careful on the tracks. The bulls robbed him; he was left with no money, food, or weapons to defend him or to cut food. He hops a train to escape the bulls and jumps on a flatbed car. He tries to hide under a tarp so he is not seen, and in the darkness of it, he feels a leg. "Hey!" is all that is said. A hobo, called by the name of Liberty Two, is the leg's owner. They are introduced to each other and they are astonished to find that the two of them are the same age. They befriend and start out a life of hobos.


Jay, the sequel to Me and Jay, is a very good piece of children's literature. This book is not as graphical as Me and Jay, so it is a book that a child can read without getting frightening images in his head. From the ending to Jay, it is obvious that a sequel to Jay is in order. Jay, the sequel to Me and Jay, should be a book on everyone's bookshelf because of the unforgetable characters, their friendship and shared adventures.

Reviewed by a Flamingnet Student Reviewer for Flamingnet Book Reviews (www.flamingnet.com)