When I Found You Kindle Edition

When I Found You was a book that I didn’t think I would like. I’ve read several Catherine Ryan Hyde novels over the past few years, and felt the same at the completion of each. The author also wrote the novel which formed the basis for the movie Pay it Forward, and so far every book I’ve read of hers has a child as one of the main characters.In this novel, the child is an abandoned hours-old baby found in the woods one morning by a duck hunter’s dog. The man takes the baby home to his childless wife, and wants to keep him, but family comes forward and claims the infant. The man, Nathan McCann, who found the baby, asks only that when the boy is older and has questions, they bring him back to meet him.Nathan makes a habit of giving the boy a gift each year on his birthday, but stays out of his life until the day the boy (named Nathan after his rescuer) and his grandmother show up at the adult Nathan’s front door. The grandmother informs Nathan that little Nathan, now an unruly teen, is too much for her to handle and she is washing her hands of him.Nathan opens his home and heart to the emotionally troubled boy, but young Nathan’s choice of actions has devastating consequences that threaten his chance at a happy home.I almost put down the book fairly early because of young Nathan’s main interest: a sport that my father loved and I hate, and still manage to find no redeeming qualities in. I persisted, though, and ran into a quote in the book which made me glad I had stuck with it: “You can’t tell someone to pursue their dream only if it’s a good match for your own. “It reminded me of why I read in the first place: to go places I’ve never been, live lives I will never live, experience love, exhilaration, heartbreak, and the totality of human existence through the filter of another lens.So I stopped begrudging young Nathan his choice of dream, and started hoping he would achieve it.The book touches on several themes. On the ways in which familial love does not have to involve shared genetics. In the values of perseverance and honesty. In realizing that there are multiple ways to fulfill one’s dreams.I saw shades of Atticus Finch in Nathan McCann: “I have always felt,” Nathan said, “that the truth is simply the truth. And perhaps does not exist for us to bend and revise. Or even filter to suit the feelings of those we love and want to protect.”Truth is, I’m glad I read this book. 4 out of 5 stars.

I enjoyed this book. It got me through two days of illness and pain. However, it is a bit (don't know how to describe it) off (?). I don't want to spoil the book - so I don't want to say too much. It is just that Nat's core changes to something that seems highly unlikely. It's not his anger flipping or his sudden rudeness to everyone (that is expected) - it's his internal dialog that makes him seem - part way through the book - an entirely different character from before. A shift so dramatically different in Nat, that I had to go back and make sure it was him. It becomes cheesy and Nat seems to be the Velveeta. And - ugh - the little manny is so stereo type it made me laugh. It starts as a really great story (me saying, "This would be an awesome movie") of these wonderful characters that seem to suck you into their thoughts and motives. Then it suddenly becomes predictable and mushy and hard to digest - like an after school special with so many life lessons - I began to feel like I was being counseled by a lonely grandmother. It did seem like this book was written by two very different people. Other than that - easy read. A good book to curl up with on a lazy rainy day.

I'm a big fan of the author. She knows how to tell a story and draw you in. She definitely did that here with this story. I couldn't give it 5 stars only because I personally did not care too much for Nat (the boy who was found in the woods). He is stubborn, hard headed and just got on my nerves. I get he had a rough start in life by being abandoned but he let that define him and all of his choices for the rest of his life. I think when he knocked his grandma down to the ground was when I lost all respect for him...and that was pretty early on since he was a teenager then. After that I couldn't feel bad for all the things that happened to him because he brought it all upon himself. I found myself finishing the book just to finish it. It was a good story, but I think since I didn't like one of the main characters, it really took the book down a notch for me. I still love the author and will read more of her books. I recommend "Take Me With You" by her. It was the first book I read by her and she has a fan for life because I loved that book so much.

This is one of those books that after ~75 pages in, you keep hoping it gets better. The further you read, the more difficult it gets to balance the inclination to give up vs. that ever-diminishing hope the book will somehow redeem itself. The premise had so much potential, but the execution was flawed on multiple levels: the characters were all clichéd, one-dimensional, and never well-developed; the dialogue was always unbelievable and annoyingly simplistic; the literary mechanism of “dating” every chapter became tedious and forced (with inexplicable gaps and lack of continuity in the story line); etc., etc. The ending impression is that of a bad “made for TV” movie that you switch after fifteen minutes. I wish I’d trusted my instinct after that first 75 pages.

I had borrowed this book before and thoroughly enjoyed reading it, so had to have my own copy to read again. The story just appealed to my sense of life's decency and worth!

This was very enjoyable and touching. I will point out - much of this book has references to boxing - this isn't mentioned in the description but is an important part of the book. Regardless, I still found this gripping and the emotional attachment between Nat and Nathan very special.

This lady is amazing. The stories she tells, weaving your emotions into the plot. I've yet to find a book of hers that, once started, I could bear to put down.

Others make you sad & some you can relate to. Very thought provoking as the author takes you through the boy's life full of pitfalls & on to him reaching manhood

Excellent story. Not the same run of the mill story