Cane and Able
by Stephen Cheek
Do you remember how you felt when you were learning to drive? You were nervous. You were scared. Your heart was racing and your mouth was dry. You were so frightened by failure that you wanted to call it quits . . . except that you were more thrilled by the chance to experience something that could lead to freedom.
Justin Cane, a Mississippi farmer's young boy in the summer of 1959, feels the same way as he learns about driving and about life. Justin's mentor is his father's trusted black farmhand, Able. Able comes across as an incredibly strong man, both physical and spiritually.
As Justin and Able take a road trip together through the low lands of the Mississippi Delta, the boy learns not only to drive on the open road but, more importantly, about the wonder and cruelty of life.
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Cane and Able intentionally begins as a simple and innocent read, pulling the reader deeper with every page turned. By page 13 the voices of the characters have begun to speak from the past and by page 24 the book is in a trot and about to RUN!
"The innocence of the characters had to be drawn first to lay the groundwork of who they are and the lifestyle they were acquainted with," Cheek says. "The South is slow paced and laid back. To rush into a complicated and furious story would be a total mistake. The reader has to be pulled in…, and they are!"
Cane and Able, by Southern writer Stephen Cheek captures the era of the late 1950's in Mississippi. He explores a time when to be black was to be "colored" and to be white was supreme, a time when the color of a person's skin could mean the difference between life and death, wrongness and fairness, or poverty and wealth.
Cheek's book shares the story of how for one family in rural Mississippi the color of a man's skin didn't matter. In his 396-page novel, he depicts the true love and devotion that existed between many white and black families in a time that was particularly difficult. Cheek narrates his story through a farmer's twelve-year-old son named Justin Cane.
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“Stephen Cheek has a talent for storytelling!
The setting is summer in the late 50's, southern Mississippi, along the low lands of the Delta and Justin Cane, the son of a farmer, is ready to learn how to drive. One of his father's black farmhands lends his expertise as the two take to the open road.
The driving lesson soon turns into an adventure neither had bargained for and Justin learns more than just how to drive his father's truck. Through humor, mishap and racial prejudice, along with the guidance of a loving God and the driven faith of Able Johnson, young Justin Cane soon learns the meaning of integrity and righteousness through the eyes of a black man.
Humorous, tense, action filled with distinct southern dialogue, Cane and Able is a perfect fit for the troubled era in which it is set and lends a wonderful insight into the life experience of a family destined to be taken on the journey of a lifetime.
Stephen Cheek has a talent for storytelling. A good read overall.”
Review by Cindy Bauer (Missouri)
May 23, 2010
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Book Details:
Publisher: lulu.com (December 15, 2009)
ISBN-13: 978-0-557-44892-0
ASIN: B003NHSRVG
Language: English
Second Edition
Paperback: 300 Pages
Genre: Fiction/Suspense
Print Price: $23.07
Kindle Price: $8.75
Amazon Purchase Link
http://www.amazon.com/Cane-Able-Stephen-Cheek/dp/0557000203/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1238007456&sr=8-2
LuLu Book Print Price: $18.75
LuLu Download Price: $6.95
LuLu Purchase Link
http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/cane-and-able/10807702
Stephen Cheek’s Website
http://www.cheekbooks.com/
Stephen Cheek’s Email
stephen@cheekbooks.com
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