Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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4.0 out of 5 stars
From Steve at J. Kaye's Book Blog, May 19, 2009
"Samantha at the Crossroad", by S. K. Smith, is an adventurous tale of 13 year old Samantha (Sam) Matjjevic's 8th grade year. This is a transitional time for Sam, the last part of childhood and the beginning of teen years and the year junior high. The story is set in 1968-1969 in a small, run-down mining and ranching town in Mineral County, Montana. Against the backdrop of Nixon's presidential campaign, Vietnam War, hippies, drugs, and Apollo 11, Sam experiences life and learns some hard lessons from the going-ons at school and her small town.
Mineral Valley has a colorful cast of characters: Grandma Matijevic who emigrated from Croatia. Ol' Bengy Wilson, "Tree-Man" who makes statues from old wood he calls his tree-people. "Bicycle-Man" is the local hoodlum, pervert, and drug dealer. There is Fred, Sam's wishful suitor, who is called "Toilet-Man" because of his ongoing sneezing and blowing his nose with toilet paper which he carried in his pockets. Cousin Tim, who is 12, is Sam's companion in most of the adventures - a real Dennis-the-Menace type. Paul Smith, a retiree who came to Mineral Valley to live the simple life and supports himself with his paintings is Sam's confident and mentor of sorts.
While the book could use some editing, the story is fast-paced and lively with big adventures like Sam witnessing a murder, being kidnapped, trapped in a cave-in, to smaller adventures like running away from school, dealing with peers and so-called friends, to the typical teenager-parent angst. S. K. Smith writes about teen drug use, pregnancies, peer alienation, and finding God with realism and understanding. I think this book would make good "tweener" TV series.
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0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A good find!, September 25, 2008
Having grown up in the Southeastern United States, but now living in the Pacific Northwest, I have an interest in comparing and contrasting growing up in the two regions. For that reason, when the book Sam at the Crossroads by S. K. Smith was recommended to me by a friend, I decided to give it a try. I'm glad I did.
In reading it I instantly recognized the area of Montana in which the story takes place. I have traveled there several times and have always found the geography to be most interesting. I don't want to give anything away, but having explored the Lewis and Clark Caverns in Montana, I found some of the geological aspects of the story to be most interesting.
Sam was not the usual coming of age story, and Sam is not your usual coming of age young lady. I think Ms. Smith has accurately captured and portrayed a young, rural, Montana girl coming of age in the late sixties.
I thought that the social and geographical aspects of the story would be of more interest to me than the character of Sam, per se. As I read the book, however, I found myself almost embarrassingly amused by and sympathetic with Sam. She is obviously a character very dear to Ms. Smith and one that she appears to know well.
No matter how you look at this book - sociological, geographical or historical setting, or simply characters and story - Ms. Smith's book rings true. I very much enjoyed it and most enthusiastically recommend it. I am not normally driven to write reviews, but I truly did enjoy this book.
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