Okay Novel That Was More Than A “Light Read”

Comfort by Carolee Dean
Publication Date: March 2002
3.5 out of 5 stars
PG-13 Sexual References, Alcohol Abuse, Brief Profanity, and Violence
Recommended

High school student Kenny is forced by his selfish mother to help at their family owned café. He is a member of the family so he helps out, but when his mother who has already taken away football and band declares he is not allowed to enter the one contest that may help him escape his mama, she goes to far. With the return of his alcoholic father who was just released from prison, Kenny realizes the time for escape from his lying father and abusive mother is shortening. All he has to do is come up with 300 more dollars and a way to get Cindy Blackwell to run away with him. But his prison guard-like mother isn’t the only thing holding him back, it’s the guilt and knowledge that he is leaving his toddler brother in the very same unloving conditions he’s trying to escape.

Comfort was an okay novel that explored a high school boy’s actions and thoughts while living in an abusive environment.

The main character, Kenny, was realistic though a little blind-sighted to life‘s joys. He had hopes and dreams of escape that appeared more tantalizing after every demeaning humiliation. Kenny was a caring person when he chose to be, but could also be hard and stubborn. He was a human being barely enduring the stress and torment. A character who I wanted to pity but knew he had a lesson to learn first.

The twists in the plot are what kept the novel moving. If this book hadn’t served the occasional slap to the unsuspecting face, I could have easily joined Kenny in his hurting world with little hope of escaping.

I enjoyed the insightful “lesson” the author centered the book around. From page 171, “ Your words have power, Kenny. They can give people hope, and courage, and confidence. And they need that.” The fact that something you say can effect other people around you is an uncommonly shared, but true actuality. Words have power, we just need to know how to use them.

I recommend Comfort for teens who wish to read a book that’s more than a “light-read”.

Date Reviewed: December 23rd, 2008

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