Review for Running Barefoot by Amy Harmon

 

Running Barefoot

by Amy Harmon

★★★★★

 

 

 

Synopsis:

When Josie Jensen, an awkward 13-year-old musical prodigy, crashes headlong into new kid Samuel Yazzie, an 18-year-old Navajo boy full of anger and confusion, an unlikely friendship blooms. Josie teaches Samuel about words, music, and friendship, and along the way finds a kindred spirit. Upon graduation, Samuel abandons the sleepy, small town in search of a future and a life, leaving his young mentor behind. Many years go by, and Samuel returns to find his old friend in need of the very things she offered him years before. Their roles reversed, Samuel teaches Josie about life, love, and letting go.

Deeply romantic and poignant, 'Running Barefoot' is the story of a small town girl and a Native American boy, the ties that bind us to our homes and families, and the love that gives us wings.

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Deeply romantic and poignant is right! Running Barefoot was such a beautiful book! I found myself trying to take my time, read it slowly, absorb all of it. I really didn't want it to end. I fell in love with the characters and the love and friendship they shared. They understood each other like no one else could. They embraced their differences and appreciated each other more because of them. Josie was there for Samuel during a time when he was struggling with finding his place in the world, when he was struggling to accept himself. Later on in their lives, Samuel was able to be there for Josie during a time when she really needed a friend and needed help getting back to who she really was.

Music plays a very big role in this book and I had it playing in the background the entire time I was reading. If Josie was listening to Beethoven, I was listening to Beethoven. If Samuel was listening to Rachmaninoff, so was I. I've always enjoyed classical music, but reading this book has really given me a new appreciation for it. I LOVE when an author can bring music into a book like this. I love reading and I love music, so when I can find something to bring the two together, I'm a happy girl! Especially when a book can introduce me to something I may not have heard before.

I really got lucky when I found this as a Kindle freebie. I highly recommend this book!! It was amazing and I loved every single bit of it.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes from Running Barefoot:

"Like a shoe that has lost its mate is never worn again, I had lost my matching part and didn’t know how to run barefoot."

 

 

"Music had never made me cry before. And these weren’t sad tears. The music I was hearing made me feel the way I sometimes felt in church when I sang songs about God or Jesus. But it made me feel that way without any words. I loved words. I was surprised that the music could talk to me without speaking."


"You always walk in beauty, Josie. You are constantly looking for it.... I think you are secretly a Navajo after all."

 

"That’s what you’ve been for me ever since I met you. The note I could hear, even when it wasn’t being played. The one I’ve gravitated towards all these years."