Gipe Created a Character Who Belongs to Us

So I'm reading Robert Gipe's TRAMPOLINE and it's slow going. Not because the book's not any good. The book is fantastic. That's the thing. Long ago I gave up trying to read as a reader. I read as a writer. I read slowly and watch for the magic. I've been doing that a lot with Gipe's book.

The language is simple but original and fresh. Damn that is so hard to do. It's not something I really even try with my own work, but I love reading it. And Dawn, the main character, is a splendid creation. I've read blurbs and reviews comparing her to Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird, Holden Caulfield from Catcher In the Rye, and I get it. But, here's the beautiful part...Dawn is ours. Dawn belongs to us, the mountain people.

That's all for now. I'm still reading. I'm trying to see how Robert is pulling this magic trick off.