The Osprey Man by Christopher TuthillPublisher: DX Varos Publishing (July 26, 2022)
Category: Young Adult, Coming of Age
Tour Dates October 3-27, 2022
ISBN: 978-1955065528
Available in Print and ebook, 280 pages
Description Osprey Man by Christopher Tuthill
Jacob is at that most magical time between childhood and adolescence. As the end of the school year approaches, he is dreaming of baseball and the beach, but most of all, about working on the comic book he and his best friend Jonathan have created, The Osprey Man. Then tragedy strikes and Jacob has to find an inner strength he is not sure he has. The Osprey Man, Chapter Twenty-four
Riverhead was not a big town, and hadn’t many streetlights, but in the mountains there was no light at all. Jacob had never seen so many stars. The Milky Way shone bright that night, illuminating the sky like a bright spine of fireworks above them.
And the meteors! They flew through the sky all night long, looking sometimes like they might drop into the mountains and set them ablaze. One, two, three, four every minute, it seemed. They came for hours, right up until Jacob became exhausted and his father picked him up in his huge, calloused hands, carried him in his wiry strong arms to sleep in the tent, dreaming of the stars and planets and of someday travelling out among them, like Han Solo or Jon Carter of Mars, from the movies and books he loved so well.
Tonight they shone bright and beautiful, if not as brilliantly as they had up in the mountains. Jacob watched as one after another the meteors screamed across the sky, burning incandescence that seemed to teem with life. Jacob imagined riding one of them out among the stars and then harnessing it down to earth, like some intergalactic cowboy.
The Perseids, Jacob knew, were impossibly old and well-travelled. They flew through the solar system, out in the desolation of space, only to return every year and remind everyone where they came from. At least, that was how Henry had put it. Henry had told Jacob that the Perseids returned every year, and would continue to do so for many hundreds and thousands of years after their family was dust. Jacob had verified this with some books on astronomy from the library. The Perseids were indeed old, having been first observed some two thousand years before, in the year 36. They were part of the comet Swift-Tuttle, and appeared in constellation Perseus. Jacob also learned that the particles they were made of were formed at the start of the universe, about four and a half billion years ago. He marveled over the number, which reminded him of Carl Sagan and Cosmos. Billions of years, just one Earth, and on it, only one Jacob.
The incredible age of the comets only made Jacob love them all the more. They had been there when the Earth was formed. They passed through the night sky for the dinosaurs. They had been there in the time of the Bible. They were there for Mikey, and now here they were again, a fireworks show for Jacob, Henry and Alice. A show more spectacular than anything the tiny town of Riverhead could put up, more glorious than any human, anywhere could devise.
Jacob was filled with reverence for the meteors, and felt they spoke to him as they descended. So, too, was he filled with love for the whole town, even for people like Andy who didn’t like him. Because Andy was part of humanity too. Maybe he didn’t seem like it all the time, but he was, just like every other person on the planet.
Jacob sat in his lawn chair watching the sky, and across from him sat his parents in their chairs, holding hands and smiling. Jacob didn’t know what kind of mysterious change had overcome them this summer, but he was pleased about it. He no longer looked for reasons to be away from home, or to skip supper, or to stay in his room all day reading comics and books (though he still enjoyed doing that.)
For maybe the first time since Mikey died two years before, Jacob felt like they were a family. He felt loved, and happy, and knew that things would be alright. He still missed Mikey terribly, and Jon as well. But it was a lucky thing to feel so wanted and loved. He looked to the stars, and in them, he felt he could see the hopes of his family coming down through the years.
After a long while, the shower was tapering off. The only sound Jacob heard was the chirping of crickets, and the rustling of leaves in the late-night breeze. He shivered against the cool air. The summer days were waning, and he knew that soon the days would turn shorter and brisker. Jacob hated the thought of school, and he worried again about having enough days left to make his summer complete.
(c) Christopher Tuthill
Guest Review by Laura
The summer of 1984 in Long Island forms the backdrop
for this stunning YA novel, entitled, 'The Osprey Man.' Imagine this: it's the
last day of fourth grade, you are looking forward to a simple, but fun summer
of going to the beach, hanging out with friends, playing baseball and reading
comic books.
You are a young boy just starting out in life, and the
whole world is at your feet. Until, one morning when you receive the
devastating news that your best friend has been killed. This is the sequence of
events that begins Christopher Tuthill's novel, 'The Osprey Man,' and changes
the course of the protagonist, Jacob's, life forever.
The title of the book is based off of the name of the
comic book that Jacob and his friend, Jon waere working on, before Jon's passing.
The Osprey Man was meant to be a hero who avenges animals from cruelty and
poaching, something that both boys felt very passionately about. But with Jon
gone, the future of the comic lies in jeopardy, and Jacob is not sure if he
wants to continue it.
Added to that are family struggles, as the death has
brought up a lot of unresolved grief for Jacob's parents, who lost their
younger son, Mikey two years earlier. Navigating these struggles, Jacob still
manages to have an enjoyable summer with new friends and new discoveries.
This YA coming-of-age novel is a heartwarming tale of
grief, friendship and perseverance told through the age of a young boy on the
verge of becoming a teenager, and Tuthill portrays this perfectly.
'The Osprey Man,' is a touching look back, combining
the simple times of childhood and the 1980's in a way that makes the reader
feel happy with the result.
I loved the charming tone of this book and the
hopeful, contented ending.
Christopher Tuthill’s short fiction has appeared in The Mythic Circle, Dark Tales from Elder Regions, and Tales of Reverie. A native of Riverhead, on Long Island, and a graduate of Catholic schools, Chris grew up around many of the places and people that inspire his writing.
He lives in New York’s Hudson Valley with his wife and children. He works as a librarian, and his hobbies include board games, baseball, hiking, camping, and telling stories to his three children. Among his other interests, he is co-founder of the New York Tolkien Conference.
Website: https://christuthill.wordpress.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisJTuthill
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chrisjtuthill
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cjtuthill/
Giveaway Osprey Man by Christopher Tuthill
This giveaway is for 3 print or ebook copies. Print is open to the U.S. only. eBook is open worldwide. This giveaway ends on October 28, 2022 midnight, pacific time. Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.Buy Osprey Man by Christopher Tuthill
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