Michael "Mikey" K. Willis can split his life into two periods: before and after 1962. Before 1962, Mikey's life consists of running wild and hiding from his parents in rural Macon County, North Carolina. His father, the pastor of the local Baptist church, is physically abusive. His mother is just as bad. It is only Mikey's determination and his sense of humor that get him through these harsh days of childhood. Then in 1962, his father is offered a position at a church in Asheville, North Carolina, and the entire family is uprooted. To young Mikey, who has never known anything but rural Appalachia, Asheville is a world of endless possibilities. In this bittersweet coming-of-age story, Willis chronicles his adolescence in Asheville and his surprising homecoming in Macon County, after friendship, first loves, and important revelations have led him down a path far different, and far removed, from his fathers.--back
