Reviewing: The Sowing Season by Katie Powner

...from the publisher...

After he's forced to sell the family farm he's labored on his whole life, 63-year-old Gerrit Laninga doesn't know what to do with himself. He sacrificed everything for the land--his time, his health, his family--with nothing to show for it but bitterness, regret, and two grown children who want nothing to do with him.

Fifteen-year-old Rae Walters has growing doubts and fears about The Plan--the detailed blueprint for high school that will help her follow in her lawyer father's footsteps. She's always been committed to The Plan, but now that the pressure to succeed is building, what was supposed to unite her family in purpose, may end up tearing it apart.

When their paths cross just as they each need a friend the most, Gerrit's and Rae's lives begin to change in unexpected ways. Can they discover together what really matters in life and learn it's never too late for a second chance?

...my thoughts... 

I didn't know what to expect the first time I opened the pages to The Sowing Season.  Inside was a surprise that filled me each time I turned a page to see what was happening to Gerrit and Rae.  I felt torn between laughter and compassion for Gerrit. After selling a farm that totally consumed his life, he was confronted with time; time to see what he missed all the days and nights while he worked a farm that, in the end, provided nothing meaningful in his life. Except memories.

Rae was the perfect daughter. She had a bright disposition, was number one in her class and volunteered in all the right places in order to check off the boxes on her long list of "must-do's" to secure her a spot at Columbia University.  She was so perfect she wasn't really enjoying life.

It is amazing that Rae and Gerrit found each other. It was even more amazing that they became friends.  He could have been her grandfather. She could have been the daughter who gave up on him when he was too busy working on the family farm.  Yet, he saw the real Rae.  She saw a man who was waiting to change.

I enjoyed this book and recommend it for those who enjoy a good story.  I recommend it all the more for young and old alike as it bridges what people of a certain age used to call the "generation gap". It appeals because the characters are so human.  Reading The Sowing Season was my introduction to Katie Powner's work and I look forward to more in the future.