Reviewing: The Right Kind of Fool by Sarah Loudin Thomas

...from the publisher...

 Thirteen-year-old Loyal Raines is supposed to stay close to home on a hot summer day in 1934. When he slips away for a quick swim in the river and finds a dead body, he wishes he'd obeyed his mother. The ripples caused by his discovery will impact the town of Beverly, West Virginia, in ways no one could have imagined.

The first person those ripples disturb is Loyal's absentee father. When Creed Raines realized his infant son was deaf, he headed for the hills, returning only to help meet his family's basic needs. But when Loyal, now a young teen, stumbles upon a murder it's his father he runs to tell--shaping the words with his hands. As Creed is pulled into the investigation he discovers that what sets his son apart isn't his inability to hear but rather his courage. Longing to reclaim the life he abandoned, Creed will have to do more than help solve a murder if he wants to win his family's hearts again. 

...my thoughts...

Sarah Loudin Thomas' The Right Kind of Fool took me right to that hot day in Beverly, West Virginia in 1934. I could feel the heat and desire to shed my shoes and dip my feet in that cool water with Loyal Raines, a young deaf teenager by my side.  He was exploring that delicious feeling we all feel when we are 14 and escaping the strictures of rules that keep us indoors when we just know we should be out having fun.  Only Loyal got more than he bargained for.  

True to her fashion of hooking the reader into her pages, this author had me reading once more into the wee hours of the night. I can't recall any book written by Sarah Loudin Thomas that didn't intrigue me from the start.  Loyal is a formidable hero who is bright for his age, able to see things many overlook and with the knack of remembering what is laid out before him.  He stumbled upon a murder, saw things that could or could not be true and the fact that he was deaf had a profound impact on all that unfolded.  I particularly liked reading his thought process throughout the book. Whether he reasoned through the clues about the murder, his parents relationship. his desire for friendships or to prove himself to his father, he was wise beyond his years.

This story is definitely a murder mystery, and it is a good one.  It is also much more.  It is about pulling people together by one young man who, when finally allowed, touches the lives of his community.  His courage is inspiring and his love is a gift.  The events of the story are almost secondary to the master weaving of a family back together.  This is an inspiring story of hope, set in a time when deaf children were not seen for their precious worth. They were different and often overlooked.  Loyal was not going to be overlooked.  Things are much improved these days, yet all of the modern conveniences pale in comparison to seeing the smiles of a group of children playing where one of them just happens to be deaf. Many thanks to #BethanyHouse and #NetGalley for the opportunity to read this wonderful book in exchange for an honest review.  The opinions are mine.