Criss-cross the Pacific Northwest with Charley and Lean on Pete.
Lean on Pete. By Willy Vlautin. New York : Harper Perennial, c2010. 277 p.
Recommendation by:
Carolyn Petersen, CLRS Project Manager, Tumwater, WA.
Vivid character development distinguishs this latest book from novelist Willy Vlautin. 15 year old Charley Thompson just wants the normal life of a teenager. He longs for the opportunity to play football and go to high school. When his father moves him from Spokane to Portland, he hopes for better luck than his down and out dad has had previously.
After Charley’s dad more or less abandons him, Charley lands a job working with horses at a nearby racetrack. There he develops a strong bond with a broken down racehorse with the improbable name of Lean on Pete. When Lean on Pete is threatened with destruction, Charley decides to save both of them.
He and Lean on Pete will travel to Charley’s only living relative in Wyoming. Individuals who appreciate a spare and intense writing style will find it in this book. As one critic puts it “Willy Vlautin plumbs the depths of despair but finally rewards you with redemption.”
ISBN-13: 9780061456534
Available at the Washington State Library, NW 813.6 VLAUTIN 2010
Available as an eReader edition.
Not available in Braille or Audiobook editions.
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