Navigating childhood is never easy. But it’s especially difficult when you’re “different.” That’s what Sam Hill is…different. This Great Read by Robert Dugoni, will take you on a journey through life, learning to love God and appreciate that different is good.
I’m not sure what intrigued me about this story when I read the dust jacket. I’m always a sucker for a “coming-of-age” novel, especially one that will absorb you into its pages. That’s what this novel did.
Sam Hill is born “different”. He has ocular albinism….red eyes. His mom, a faith-filled woman, believed it was God’s will and what made Sam special. Sam wasn’t so sure, his faith and belief in his mother on rocky ground as he dealt with childhood bullies, school leaders who thought he was straight from the devil (hence his nickname, Sam “Hell”), and a life of solitude. He was just a little boy yearning for a friend.
When Sam finally meets Ernie, an African-American boy, and Mickie, a wild-child girl, he begins to understand there are a lot of kinds of different, and that’s o.k. Together, the three form an enduring bond of friendship and love that carries them through the ups and downs, successes and failures of life.
This a full-circle novel, one that you won’t want to put down. Your heart will ache for the little boy who’s different. You’ll feel in an almost visceral way the pain that he goes through as he finds his way through life. It’ll have you questioning your own faith, strength, and fortitude. And, it’ll have you cheering as Sam comes to realize his true purpose in life. He is, indeed, special.
