Rating: 
Summary: A Perverse Pleasure
Review: I want to tell you not to read this book - but I won't. I want to hate this book - but I can't. I want to forget this book - but it has scarred me.Four children are orphaned when their mother is jailed for killing their abusive father. The oldest, the son named Harley, is thrust into the role of being father and mother to three sisters, Amber, Misty and Jodie. He is struggling with becoming an adult - hormones, etc. - and is now shouldered with responsibilities normally earned by one many years older than he. He works two jobs, wonders if he should be bothered that the girls seem to eat only hot dogs and frozen pizza and worries about finding money to pay the property taxes on the house. He maintains regular appointments with a psychiatrist to work through issues relating to his mother's absence and incarceration. The older sister, Amber, is a rural Lolita: a vulnerable vixen, who looks for security in meaningless sex with local hoods. She wants her drivers' license but not a part-time job needed to pay for her own insurance. The middle girl, Misty, is rage in a prepubescent body. In moodiness and isolation, she harbors the family secrets and her own resentments over her father's death. The baby, Jody, is the joy and innocence remaining of this damaged family; she witnesses the family's decent but is shielded from recognition by childhood and its undaunted optimism. She hides in "to do" lists, which reflect a world of make-believe and an attempt to bring order to chaos erupting around her. Jody is the only child to have escaped her father's hand. Each of the older children bears the physical and emotional scars of abuse. In the absence of the mother, who is damned for both killing the abuser but failing to stop the abuse, Harley, Amber and Misty cannot make a "family" from what is left of a group of individuals trying to survive. They both love and hate one another; they cannot embrace each other because the wounds inflicted by years of abuse are still raw and sensitive. The amusement with which Harley shares his experiences and struggles only exaggerates the ruination of their lives. This story is "Party of Five" in a nightmare. Other reviewers have doted on the Appalachian setting as creating a "local color" work, but this family crisis could have been staged at any time or place. I think I recall seeing a similar story on "Law and Order - Special Victims Unit" once; if I didn't, it would work, all the same . . . This is not a story for the faint of heart. I cried for these children and their lost innocence; I wanted to kill their dead father; I wanted to punish their jailed mother personally. My strong reaction is making this review difficult to write. This book is the first "Oprah's Pick" I can recommend but not because I "like" it. I like this book in the way I know it is often best to vomit when I have a bad stomachache. It's one of those painful things we must endure - facing the crimes and atrocities in our own modern society - in order to impart meaning and purpose to our own lives. However, in today's environment of mass media assault, where camcorders can take us directly to the scene of a massacre, the perverse exhilaration from such a book as this comes from the knowledge that I am still outraged by it.
Rating: 
Summary: The Great, great adventures of Harley!
Review: Tawni O'Dell is tough and gritty and poignant and quick. She hits hard and creates characters that live with you. I couldn't put this book down, waiting to see what Harley would do next, hurting for him, wanting to be him, anxiously hoping he would survive. With a cup of fine vanilla coffee, a little rain, the New York Night and my favorite reading music (John McArthur's, "HIDDEN") I started Back Roads and didn't finishe until the story was done. Buy this book.
Rating:
Summary: This book was truly amazing--you will be amazed!
Review: Ms. O'dell is an amazing writer who captured my heart from the very first page. I love how she begins with something that plays a very minute part in the book-that of alwalys trying to kill his best friends little brother. Beyond what one would most likely glean from this book-I found many other aspects that one may overlook to be the most amazing parts. To begin with, Harley is an amazing dynamic character who contains such unique ideas at times. He is very precocious but he must be for the circumstances that he was thrown into. Okay, I'm writing in circumlocation and am not succintly expressing how the book impacted me! I wanted so badly for Harley to go off to school-to scoop up his precious little sister Arley-she was by far my favorite character. She was a precious little thing, who always said the cutest snippets. I have read 28 of the 33 Oprah books, and this is one of my favorite, excluding "She's come Undone"-that book was truly a turning point in my view upon the world-so if you have not read that one---I highly Recommend it! :-)
Rating: 
Summary: Why did Oprah love this book?
Review: I am still trying to figure out why this book would beconsidered enjoyable. I found it very disturbing and uncomfortable.At times I wanted to stop reading because I felt like it was a trashytalkshow in words. I read email about how people loved Harley (found him endearing) I found him repulsive. The character did not even bathe. I feel that the author is a very good writer and very descriptive but the story was over the top when it came to dysfunction. I know people are saying it is true to life, but how much murder, incest and sickness can be in one family. I feel the story could have been more uplifting in some way...
Rating:
Summary: Very Frank
Review: I can't imagine taking on so much responsibilty at such a young age and in the middle of a horrific tragedy. The author does not hold back. I recomend this book. It made me feel very blessed to have what I have.
Rating:
Summary: I COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN
Review: This book dealt with a very serious subject that added humor and had many surprises. I wasn't expecting the many twists it took, almost like a suspense novel. One of Oprah's best picks yet.
Rating:
Summary: Oprah's redeemed herself!
Review: After Daughter of Fortune, (HATED IT) I was hesitant to follow Oprah's advice on another book. I am glad I did. Back Roads is a wonderful book, full of thought-provoking images and detail. It is not a book you'd want to pick to pass time because you'll read it in a day... it's a page turner. I laughed at one page and cried at the next. It causes you to pause and wonder what you'd do in Harley's situation and then thank God you're not in Harley's situation. Sadly, 'Harley's situation' happens to more kids than we'd like to admit.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: When I first started the book I had high expectations, I thought the story would be interesting. However the characters were poorly developed and uninteresting. The book was very slow, in the end I didn't care what happened to the characters. I put the book away when I was only half the way through. This was the first book I have read from Oprah's book club and it was a disappointing experience........doesn't she read the books she recommends?
Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: What an amazing first novel. I read this and simply could not believe the intensity, the depth and the amazing character development. I literally cried when I read it. I cannot believe how this book affected me. It literally touched my soul. I highly recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: GRIPPING AND BOLD
Review: I had just finished "Where the Heart Is" when I picked up this novel. These could not be more different books in tone and character but I was equally impressed with both. "Back Roads" takes you around every turn with this boy struggling to keep his family together. O'Dell makes you feel for him as well as his sisters and she makes the pain they endure horribly realistic. The landscaape of Western Pennsylvania is the perfect backdrop for a novel that I found chilling yet irresistable. I could not put it down and when I was finished, I was still haunted by what the lives of these characters could have been had they not been doomed from the start. Wonderful book and I highly recommend it to anyone who can deal with a little shock to the system. The topics she covers are not always easy but they are well worth braving.
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