The sequel to the award-winning Stepping on the Cracks. тАЬSometimes heart-rending, sometimes funny, Gordy Smith will prove memorable to all who meet him.тАЭтАФBooklist (starred review)
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In Following My Own Footsteps, sixth-grader Gordy Smith comes to grips with the fear that heтАЩll turn out no better than his abusive father . . .
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With his father now in jail and one brother hospitalized, GordyтАЩs mother has no choice but to take the family to their wealthy grandmotherтАЩs house in North Carolina. There Gordy meets William, a boy who had polio and is now wheelchair bound. Though they become friends, GordyтАЩs plans to help William fail spectacularly. Matters only get worse when GordyтАЩs father is released from prison and his mother is poised to give him a second chance. Gordy must decide where he belongsтАФwith his dysfunctional parents or with the grandma who is more than his match in toughness, in courage, and in love.
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тАЬA cast of unforgettable characters inhabit this work, seasoned with WW II setting but utterly contemporary in its concerns. Hahn is in top form, proving through GordyтАЩs first-person narration that real love can triumph over all kinds of adversity, and often does.тАЭтАФKirkus Reviews
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тАЬThe complex characterizations, period setting and GordyтАЩs brave attempts to break a cycle of violence will hold readersтАЩ interest.тАЭтАФPublishers Weekly
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тАЬItтАЩs a timeless social issue really, in any era, of having a dysfunctional abusive parent . . . A very good story showcasing complex friendships, familial relationships, and inner conflict, all set in WW2 America.тАЭтАФCats and Fiction