A Boy in the Ozarks

Daydreaming and fishing are a perfect fit for many 8 year old boys. A diverse forest to explore is a nice addition. Measuring approximately 50,000 square miles, the Ozarks spread across four states and 93 counties. Plenty of room for one small boy without boundaries.

It becomes apparent within the first few paragraphs in J Lee Bagan's novel "Billy Dee of the Ozarks," that this 8 year old deserves a set of loving and doting parents. But with a father in prison and a mother on drugs, he is virtually alone. He misses his dad and worries about his mom. Taking off by himself, hitchhiking to other towns, rivers and lakes, he fishes with the help of gentlemen who take time to shoot the breeze and lend him a pole. Adventures are his life preserver, solitary treks into the Ozark forests soothing to his soul.

J Lee Bagan shares Billy Dee's life. The story reflects the transitions that all people travel. Childhood. Traumas, either feared or real. Changes in both body and mind as years progress. Growing in and out of childish dreams and perceptions as adulthood and responsibilities persistently beckon. No one is spared. We dream, we play, we grow. And before too long, the stardust is swept from our eyes and reality sets in. As the reader, we get to share this journey with Billy Dee.

Have you noticed life rarely stays stagnant? While Billy Dee worries how he can keep caring for his mom, she takes life into her own hands and ends hers. So instead of that worry, Billy Dee then worries where his own life will fall. Landing temporarily with Ella May, the neighbor down the street, is a nice surprise. She is a solid soul, deep of faith and blues music, with a pile of never ending comic books. Good food, too and plenty of it. This unexpected turn slowly soothes the first hurdles through trauma and grief.

Having once met the formidable Madigan (Maddy to her friends) during one of his forest treks, and finding she is a relative a few times removed, the court gives her guardianship as Billy Dee's life transitions again. Her house is small but tidy and the garden big. She plants arugula and spinach at the forest treeline for the deer and they obediently do not enter her unfenced yard. Did I mention Maddy's big red dog Beaudreau? Really big! Rather storybook big, reminding me of the picture book "Clifford the Big Red Dog." He is very attentive and protective of both Maddy and now Bill Dee. Maddy calls the dog Boo.

Maddy comes from Celtic origins and a mystery evolves ever so gently that the reader enters the world of fantasy rather seamlessly. Haven't forests always been steeped in a bit of mystery? So fae and fairies and forest druids fold naturally into the story, including an evil entity that must be conquered. The author weaves both the natural and supernatural into a fine crescendo with a nod to jazz performers and their songs crooning emotionally in the background. We watch a young boy growing from child to teen while getting a glimpse of the man he will become.

This journey is not without heartache. Bodies and spirits are challenged and battered. While Billy Dee is taught thoroughly about the natural world, it is way beyond survival skills. It is both fascinating and devastating to be a part of Billy Dee's education into life. It did not evolve like I thought, in southern mountain style with child ballads, fiddlers and dulcimer strumming on the front porch while watching fireflies. It became so much more.

J Lee Bagan gives the reader the chance to reflect on both idyllic childhood memories and harsh life realities, and the choice to come to terms with both. Embracing the lessons, allowing both joy and pain to weave their way through to the next level of existence, becomes the purest of gifts.

Humans are formed through their genetics, their environment and the nurturing from those around them. We fight this process a lot, even throughout adulthood. Billy Dee shows us how to push forward no matter what, like the superheroes he found in his comic books. Like the laments he heard in jazz songs. Like the wisdom he found from Maddy and Boo. It is a good reminder that while all lives come with the good and the bad, it is what we do with our challenges that makes the difference, sink or swim.

Good Books.

Good reading.

*Midge Lyn'dee is a fictional character used for the purpose of entertainment though the reviews are real and sincere.