Short novel full of hope

“Heart with Joy,” by Steve Cushman. Canterbury House Publishing, Vilas, N.C. 2010. 182 pp. $14.95.

By Deirdre Parker Smith

dp1@salisburypost.com

Steve Cushman’s short novel, “Heart with Joy,” is a breezy read about a teen boy who finds what fills his heart with joy.

Instead of an angst-filled life, Julian is pretty easy going for a 15-year-old. Not that he doesn’t have problems — his mother has moved to Florida to manage her parents’ motel and finish her novel, and his best friend has turned into a snobby jerk. And the old lady next door seems to have a grudge against him. And his father is a workaholic who just doesn’t know what to say to his son.

Instead of turning to alcohol or drugs, or roaming the streets wreaking havoc, Julian does what he has to. He takes care of himself and his father, a hospital nurse.

Julian cooks all the meals, cleans the house and shies away from girls. He keeps to himself, but feels a bit lonely.

His friend, Dennis, goes to a different high school because it has a better tennis team and coach. Dennis is a little full of himself — too full for Julian’s taste.

What Julian needs is someone to talk to, and his father is a man of few words. His father has also decided to run a marathon and throws himself into training, using hours of time he could be with his son to run away from his problems.

It turns out “Old Lady Peters” next door needs someone to help her around the house. And that turns out to be Julian.

Their relationship didn’t start out well, several years earlier, when she ran over Julian’s leg with her car. Of course, he was under her car trying to salvage a ball at the time. Mrs. Peters’ son Simon has warned Julian and his father to stay away from his mother.

So when Old Lady Peters speaks to Julian over the fence and asks for help, he’s very cautious.

But things start to improve. Mrs. Peters wants help feeding her birds, needs Julian to fill the feeders, clean and refill the birdbath, clean out a nesting box.

As their relationship grows, slowly, Julian finds that Mrs. Peters is the someone he has been needing.

She’s the one who makes suggestions of how Julian can reach out to his father, for example, riding his bike with his dad as he runs.

Julian, meanwhile, is honing his cooking skills, watching Food Network and studying cookbooks. Every night he tries something new.

By chance, he strikes up a conversation with the checkout girl at the grocery store, who invites him to a cooking club.

The nice thing about “Heart with Joy” is it is a book of hope, not miracles. Maybe it’s hard to believe a 15-year-old boy would behave so sensibly, but it happens.

There’s no violence or dangerous liaisons with tragic consequences.

This is a simple book about a boy who overcomes his loneliness and sadness by reaching out and blossoming within. It’s a book about adults who respond to a child in need in the best way. It’s about a father who thinks he’s miserable but discovers he’s OK, after all.

The mother remains a question, which is appropriate. Her excuse for leaving is the need to help her parents and a desire to finish her novel, one she has been writing and rewriting for years, but she’s running, too, her head filled with negative thoughts.

As Julian talks to his father and tries to pry things out of his mother, he learns that what’s underneath the excuses.

In the summer, Julian leaves his father and new girlfriend Tia to see his Mom in Florida. But by now, his idea of staying with her for good isn’t as appealing.

As they talk, he makes a very mature decision, one he knows he can live with. He realizes he can’t solve his parents’ problems, even if he has managed to get them talking again.

Cushman is also the author of “Portisville,” which won the Novello Festival Press Literary Award for 2004.

This little book may not be an award-winner, but it’s a pleasant read in which the unexpected happens — there’s no pat ending, no monumental crisis. It’s quiet and gentle and certainly suitable for teens and adults.

It’s the kind of thing that might help an angry teen see the other side — the growing up and being happy side.

You’ll like Julian and feel that the ending is right, and you’ll feel a little bit better about the world.