Customer Reviews

When We Were Saints (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

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This book was even better than I expected. I like this author and I thought the basic story line sounded interesting so I bought it. It was much a much deeper book than I anticipated and I read it from beginning to end in one sitting. I didn't want to put it down. The searching and resolution in this story is more than most people figure out in their whole lives. I think many people would benefit from reading this book, not just yound adults.

When We Were Saints is the story of Archibald Lee Caswell, your everyday, average 14 year old boy, who goes on a pilgrimage to become a saint. Archie's life drastically changes the day his grandfather Silas, an old prophet, dies and tells Archie he is a saint. The day of the funeral, a young girl comes up to Archie and hands him a card that basically says the same thing. Clare Simpson, the girl from the funeral is a very religious 15 year old who convinces Archie that he truly is saintly and that the two of them are soul mates. From there, Archie goes on a journey to find God and become the saint he believes he is destined to be.

This book was a rollercoaster of a ride for me. There isn't a lot of action or crazy things happening, but it truly made me think. Archie's journey to sainthood is moving and made me think about religion in an entirely different way. That being said, this book is filled with the Catholic religion. I think that alone may make a lot of readers pass on this. I'm not particularly religious, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Nolan has created an unforgettable character in Archie. He is your average boy, but unique in the so many ways. His devotion to Clare is startling at times, but almost understandable. Clare herself is a startling character. Her complete, unwavering devotion to God is incredible and terrifying. Archie wants what she has and almost loses himself to find it. Their pilgrimage moved me to tears.

I couldn't even put the book down towards the end because I was so connected to Archie and I needed to know what was going to happen to him. It's impossible not to care for him. Archie is so young and naïve and he has so much love pouring out of him that I instantly felt connected with him. I never really felt that way with Clare, but I don't think the reader is supposed to. Clare is the catalyst for the pilgrimage and Archie's reason for wanting to be closer to God, but she does so much more than that for him. Their journey isn't just about finding God, it is about finding the goodness in humankind and becoming saintly in ways that aren't even related to religion.

When We Were Saints isn't a love story and it isn't necessarily a story about finding God either. It is a story about a boy finding himself. Archie goes on a pilgrimage to be closer to God, but he actually discovers the person he is and the person he wants to be. It is a moving, emotional journey that will stay with me for a long time.

Opening line: Archibald Lee Caswell had named the still he and his best friend, Armory Mitchell, had built in the basement of his grandparents' home The Last Hurrah, in honor of Armory, who was moving with his family to Washington, D.C.

Favorite line: Maybe that's all it really takes to be a saint - those simple acts of kindness.

Despite its thought-provoking and generally positive message, this book is too lengthy and slow-paced to be compelling. Set in rural Appalachia, this tale weaves together themes of spirituality, religion, mental illness, and individual growth. Archie?s grandfather, known by some as a prophet but by most as the town drunk, uses his dying breath to call Archie a saint. Soon after, Archie?s grandmother falls ill, his relationship with his best friend ends, and he meets a strange and beautiful young woman named Clare. In a state of confusion about his grandfather?s dying words and his own life?s meaning, Archie believes Clare when she tells him that they are both saints and must change their lives through constant prayer, starvation, and eventually, a pilgrimage the Cloisters Museum in New York. While the description of the museum is beautifully rendered, the actions of the teens are much less plausible, causing readers to feel unsympathetic toward Archie and his foolish mistakes. Unless you have a need for a spiritual journey that lacks suspense and believable events, pass on this title.

This is what literature needs to be like these days. I picked up this book in the Young Adult section of my library, and I was amazed. Engrossing, interesting, and moving. A wonderful book!

I just finished reading this book -- in two days. As soon as I finished I wanted to go back and read it all over again! I feel like I have actually met both Clare and Archie, the main characters, they come to life. This book is both thought provoking and a "good read." Highly recommended.

This novel was recommended to me by a friend and that rarely promises a good read. However, this novel was a surprise. Not so much when I initially read it, although I did find the characters curious and compelling. But long after I finished the novel I still find myself thinking about the issues it raises about modern understanding of spirituality and what it means to believe. I would say more but am afraid I would give away too much. I can only say that I would gladly share this novel with any young person I know for the sake of seeing what, if anything, the carry away from their reading.

For readers with religious backgrounds, this title suggests a nostalgic novel, one that perhaps laments the present immoral lifestyle for the more virtuous ways of the past--a feeling with which the religious reader can relate. But upon opening When We Were Saints, such a reader will find a story of the other extreme. Not a reflection on a past life of figurative sainthood, it is the tale of two teenagers' atypical present journey toward a literal sainthood.

A home-schooled fourteen-year-old living on a southern farm with his aged grandparents and saddened that his only friend is moving to Washington, D.C., Archibald Lee Caswell has enough to worry about.

But when Granddaddy Silas, the once-esteemed town prophet turned cursing drunkard, after falling to the ground upon having discovered Archie and his friend brewing alcohol in the basement, lies silent on his deathbed, Archie adds another concern to the list. In a moment of revelation--or was it hallucination?--Grandaddy Silas pokes his finger into Archie's stomach and speaks his final prophecy--or was it a curse?--"Young man, you are a saint!"

As Archie considers the meaning of his grandfather's final words, he struggles to define sainthood and discover the saint in himself, even as the reader questions the book's portrayal of religiosity and struggles to relate to Archie's story.

Confused, lost, wandering, Archie meets Clare Simpson, a mysterious, glowing girl who makes sense of his religious experience on the mountain, introduces him to a Gandhi-like lifestyle that guarantees closeness to God, insists on calling him Francis, and seems to have everything under control. Smitten with her beauty and believing that she is a saint, Archie follows Clare as a admiring and striving disciple.

The journey to sainthood culminates in a pilgrimage to the Cloisters in New York, where Clare reveals her plans of a life dedicated to God. Thinking theirs was a journey of spiritual revelation, Archie instead becomes increasingly aware of the problems with this extreme religiosity, this distorting of the Christian calling to be in the world, but not of the world.

Worried about his hospitalized grandmother who he has abandoned and about the rail-thin Clare's refusal to eat, Archie allows the reader to share in the story at last by gradually narrowing the gap between idealism and reality, as the reader's criticisms are actualized and authenticated by Archie's thoughts.

Though Nolan provides some clear examples of what a religious life is not, the book does not make clear what a religious life should be. Clare's convictions are only checked by Archie's uncertainties and her mother's atheistic worldview, not by any established, exemplary "saint." Again, what readers expect to find in a religious novel is abandoned: an obvious juxtaposition of saint and sinner, clear lines between not enough and too much, a moral and sense of certainty.

But perhaps uncertainty is just the point. The realism the reader rejoices to finally find in Archie demands an unsettling ending; a more certain conclusion or an easy solution would be untrue. Because religious belief includes miracles and mysteries, demands faith in things not seen and heard, and transcends reality, its adherents face some uncertainties.

Though the book may not appeal to all audiences, those who become its captivated readers will find a unique and powerful story and will not close the book without reexamining themselves, their religiosity, and the balance between reality and faith.