Bones Buried in the Dirt by David S Atkinson

Genre:  Adult Coming of Age Short Stories

David S Atkinson's website

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Description (taken from review inquiry):

The stories of Bones Buried in the Dirt act together to present the young life a boy named Peter. Ranging from Peter at ages four to twelve, the stories focus on the moments in childhood that get buried in the mind but are never fully absorbed, the ones that are always remembered and shape identity.

Unlike most coming of age tales, this novel in story form never brings Peter forward into adulthood. Rather, though the stories are reflective, the distance is short. Thus, instead of a story about how an adult became who they are, the result is a becoming–a sonar picture of the person Peter will be.

Reading the short stories from Peter's childhood kind of make you think of your own childhood.  What we did as kids trying to pretend we were 'grown up' and not really understanding it.  Watching an innocent kid acting out very adult things.

In this story, we get to see little snippets from Peter's life and watch how he reacts to things and tries to comprehend what's going on.  We get to see the mistakes his parents make while trying to teach him life lessons.  We watch the kids tease others and try to avoid playing with them; I remember those moments in my childhood.  Kind of makes you think kids are a little cruel, right?  We get to watch young-kid love happen even though there's very little comprehension as to what love really means.  And then we watch some catastrophic events occur and realize that kids just don't understand the consequences of their choices.

I thought these stories were a 'back-in-time' read.  They made me think of my own childhood and all of the horrible things I did as a kid.  All the things I tried to understand but didn't.  However, I kind of wish we could have seen Peter as an adult.  How did these events in his life shape him as an adult?  Guess we'll just have to make some assumptions as to how he turned out.

A good short read that I think others will enjoy.  It makes you step back and think about all the stuff you appreciate in life.  I'd recommend it to those looking to step out of a comfort zone and read something refreshing.

Thanks goes to David S Atkinson for providing me a review copy.