Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Right Handed Lefty: a coming of age story about finding one's identity in this world

Right Handed Lefty by Ryan Coughlin is the coming of age story in 1983, in the small town of Boscobel, Wisconsin, as a boy with no real identity in his family history discovers you are much more than your bloodline. Ellis Sayre has had a crazy life. Orphaned as a baby, adopted then return. He spent much of his early years in an orphanage until he is adopted by Marty and Suzanne Sayre after the tragic death of their only son. When the story opens, Ellis is 12 years old and trying to figure out where he fits in with his new family, his classmates and his friends. Until one day when he, along with his friends George and Mason, witness a crime. The authorities and their parents don’t believe them. Fearing for their lives, the three boys run away and have an adventure along the Mississippi River. The search begins for the boys. One group, the concerned parents who become increasingly aware the boys were telling the truth, and one man who wants to make sure the boys never tell their story again. The stories of Ellis Abbot, a World War II vet, and an orphaned Native American boy, Two Right Feet, in the 1800s, are key to helping Ellis come to terms who he is.


The beginning of the story hooked me in. I felt a connection to Ellis and his uncertainly as he life has been anything but stable. However, when the side stories of Ellis Abbot and Two Right Feet start to intertwine with Ellis Sayre’s story, I got lost and seemed to lose interest. It reminded me of the 1986 film, Stand by Me, as a group of boys leave on an adventure innocent and return with a new perspective on life and their own identity. The story picked up again once the boys were on their adventure and the adults were on their trail to find them. It is a decent coming of age story about finding your true identity and place in the world. Right Handed Lefty is marketed as a Young Adult book and this may be its main audience; however, I feel adults would enjoy this story as well.

Right Handed Lefty

is available in paperback and eBook

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