“Living long is a gift denied to many, and so it comes with a responsibility to make the most of it. At very least to appreciate it. People gripe about growing older—their aches and pains, how much harder everything is—as if they had forgotten that the alternative is dying young.”
“We just made the mistake of putting it off. We thought we would lose nothing by putting it off. We thought we had plenty of time. I guess that was our key mistake, right? We thought there would always be more time. Why do we do that? I mean, not just Luis and me. Everybody. Why does everybody do that? Think we'll have more time?”
Book: Have You Seen Luis Velez?
Author: Catherine Ryan Hyde
Genre: Fiction, Contemporary
Synopsis: Raymond Jaffe feels like he doesn't belong. Not with his mother's new family. Not as a weekend guest with his father and his father's wife. Not at school, where he's an outcast. After his best friend moves away, Raymond has only two real connections: to the feral cat he's tamed and to a blind ninety-two-year-old woman in his building who's introduced herself with a curious question: Have you seen Luis Velez?
Mildred Gutermann, a German Jew who narrowly escaped the Holocaust, has been alone since her caretaker disappeared. She turns to Raymond for help, and as he tries to track Luis down, a deep and unexpected friendship blossoms between the two.
Despondent at the loss of Luis, Mildred isolates herself further from a neighborhood devolving into bigotry and fear. Determined not to let her give up, Raymond helps her see that for every terrible act the world delivers, there is a mirror image of deep kindness, and Mildred helps Raymond see that there's hope if you have someone to hold on to.
What I think about it...
This book is both heartbreaking and heartwarming for me.
Heartbreaking because, even though I know its fiction, I know there really are children / kids who feel out of place inside their own home – that one place where they should feel they are loved and wanted. It is so saddening to see that the person who’s most suffering in the separation of a husband and a wife is their child. I felt so sad for Raymond for being in that situation. I was kinda happy, though, that at least his Dad cares for him but I also don’t think that he has some balls to stand up for his own son.
But it is so heartwarming for me because Raymond found his family in Mrs. G and in other Luis Velezes. It’s just so ironic that sometimes people who are not related to you are the ones who make you feel like you’re family. I’m tearing up just by recalling how wonderful this book is.
The Ending
Wow. I thought I was not really gonna enjoy what’s gonna happen in the end but you know, Catherine Ryan Hyde didn’t really promised anything in the end and that made it more realistic. It is so realistic that it may be happening to someone right now. It’s just so amazing and it’s really not the kind of ending I was hoping but it’s as good as it gets. There are so many things that’s gonna happen in the future and who knows what’s in there until we get there, right? We just have to be positive and hope for the best.
My Verdict
Amazing. Must-read. Most recommended.
There are so many great takeaways here that I kept highlighting here and there. Guys, if you’re looking for a book that will give you the feels… This. Is. It.
It taught me that we can’t really change the world, alone, especially for the people we care about for them to like it better or for them to not feel any more pain/hardships. But what we can do is to let them go through whatever it is they have to go through and just be there for them.
“The world is terrible and wonderful at the same time. One doesn’t negate the other, but the wonderful keeps us in the game. It keeps us moving forward.”
MY RATING
★★★★★
