Book Review: Hawkes Harbor

Reviewed By: Pat Reid - RAM

Hawkes Harbor     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
S. E. Hinton
Class/Genre:   Fiction   Fantasy   Dark Fantasy   Horror
Tom Doherty Associates, LLC, 2004, 251 pps.

Jamie Sommers was a sad little boy in the Bronx in 1950. His mother, an unwed mother, had passed away and Jamie was sent to an orphanage. The sister who picked him up took away the only thing he had left from his mother, a necklace. The treatment he received at the orphanage was not the best.

When Jamie grew up he went into the Navy and after that met up with an Irishman Kellen Quinn. The two traveled all over the world and had many adventures. We learn of these adventures through Jamie’s talks with Dr. McDevitt of Terrace View Asylum, Delaware. It is really hard to tell when you begin reading if these adventures are true of something that Jamie has dreamed up but eventually you come to realize all of these things really happened.

He traveled with Kellen to Hawkes Harbor where he met with terror that eventually led him to jail where he was badly mistreated and then to a state hospital. Finally he was transferred to Terrace View Asylum where he was able to overcome some of his problems. Eventually he was released and returned to Hawkes Harbor to live with Grenville Hawkes.

In spite of his background Jamie eventually learned to overcome his past and find real friendship.

Pat Reid - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Pat Reid - RAM