[Book Review] The Priest and the Peaches by Larry Peterson

The book, The Priest and the Peaches (285 pages), by Larry Peterson, reminds me of something I learned from working in a non-government organization: that all children are entitled to proper care, nutrition, encouragement, education, and opportunity. When I say children, from the moment they are born, they should receive all the benefits needed for their holistic development.

Sadly, many of us adults tend to forget that. There is a recent news report about a town in the city recording the highest number of malnourished children. There is another year-old news about kids dropping out of high school faster than an operated gumball machine primarily because their parents could not provide for them. Then, there are a couple of news reports about teenagers learning the ways of bad trade--sticking out a gun for a couple of bucks.

The development of a child is influenced not just by the child’s individuality but also his/her living conditions, family care, and health and education systems. Research has shown that children’s cognitive, social, emotional, and physical processes are strongly linked to the care by the families, communities, and the country required to support their development.

The Priest and the Peaches reminds us readers of this fact. A historical fiction novel set in the Bronx in the mid-1960, it tells the journey of the Peach children, newly orphaned and with ages ranging from two years old to 18 years old, as they fought to remain a family  while preparing for their father’s funeral. The priest, Father Tim Sullivan, is their guide in the “grown-up world”.

No one is going anywhere. Got it? We’re still a family. This is still our home. We are all going to stay right here, just like we've been doing—end of story. Now, get out your rosary beads. We need to pray and ask Our Lady to watch out for us.

A poignant story that follows the adventures and misadventures of five strong children with different personalities and different means of coping with the death of their mother, then their grandmother, and finally, their father. Still at the end of the day, they choose to be together as a family. The good thing with these children is that they are brought up well, despite some family issues, and are ready enough to face the world on their own when their parents died. What is even better is when the community, being led by Father Sullivan, helps them in various surprising ways.

And so, upon the death of the Peaches’ father, the community worked together to provide the children the proper care, nutrition, encouragement, education, and opportunity they need. And in the end, if we let our minds go further than the last page of the book, we know that the Peaches will have a bright future ahead of them.

The Priest and the Peaches is written in such a way that it appeals to all ages and must be read by all ages, filled with universal principles.

Pride…stupid, stupid pride. It blinds people, even good people. It chokes the love right out of them.

Check out Larry Peterson's Guest Post at Simple Clockwork here

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Larry Peterson was born and raised in the Bronx, New York. A former Metal Lather/Reinforcing Iron-worker, he left that business after coming down with MS. He, his wife and three kids moved to Florida 30 years ago. Larry began doing freelance newspaper commentary after graduating from Tampa College in 1984.

His first children's picture book, Slippery Willie's Stupid, Ugly Shoes was published in 2011. In 2012, his full length novel, The Priest and the Peaches was released and he is presently working on the sequel.

He also has a blog where he posts weekly commentary. He lives in Pinellas Park, Florida and his kids and six grandchildren all live within three miles of each other. Get a copy of “The Priest and the Peaches” by Larry Peterson through the following links:

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