Rating: 
Summary: She's done it again
Review: Back Roads is my all time favorite book, so I was so excited that Ms. O'dell had written a new novel. She did not disappoint.
Tawni O'dell is masterful at examining the human condition. Relationships that are developed are poignant. The themes of reconciliation, acceptance, forgiveness,and self awareness(to name those that immediately come to mind)are addressed in a beautifully written prose. She gets it!! And she helps me understand and emphathize more with situations with which I've had no experience. We are our brother's keeper.
This book, along with Back Roads, took me longer to read than usual because I go back and reread paragraphs. I'm awed by her turn of a phrase. My book is full of colorful tabs. I can't wait for my book club to review it. So much meat. So much fun to read.
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Summary: Wonderful novel with great senses of character and place.
Review: Having grown up in a small, Pennsylvania, coal-mining town, I gravitated to this novel set in a similar place. O'Dell has it spot on! She captures the people, the setting, and the attitude wonderfully. I loved how she allowed her characters their faults, making them like real people. She brought to life strong people in a tough, small town, just making a life in spite of the risks of mining and the exploitation of the large company over the small work force. She brought out what matters in such a place: family.
It's also a great portrait of coming home. Ivan, the main character, never thought to be back in this place. Yet, there is unfinished business for him there that primarily draws him. However, beyond the primary draw are demons from his past he must confront. He has a drinking problem, stemming from a past he's trying to avoid confronting. Past glories haunt him, yet in this home town, he is still appreciated by the people he grew up with for those past glories--simply because he gave them pleasure by being able to watch him on the football field.
The novel made me realize that home, where you grew up, never leaves you, no matter how far you run from it. That place, and those attitudes are a part of you, and hopefully you can gain strength from that rather than hiding from it.
Rating: 
Summary: Good Read
Review: I had almost given up on another 'Tawni O'Dell' book, so imagine my delight when I found this book on the shelves. Just as I did BackRoads, I read this in one day. You just can't put it down.
No need to give a synopsis, other's have done so here, and the jacket cover pretty well gives you an idea of the plotlines. But, if you are looking for a book to get 'lost' in, try this one.
Now all I have to do is wait another 5 years for Tawni to write another one!!
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: I liked Back Roads, but thought this book was a lot better. The characters in this book are believable. The hardships the people in the town have to endure because of pain their families had to endure in the past and the lack of job opportunities and the pressures that go along with them really make you feel for them. It's a book about people told by an x-football star, who comes back home after being away for many years. I would highly recommend this book to anyone.
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Summary: Coal Region Reality
Review: I realize Tawni O'Dell is not from the same part of Pennsylvania I am...she's Western (bituminous) where I originate in Eastern (anthracite), and while coal mining is coal mining to most, Keystone Staters will tell you otherwise. Regardless, Tawni O'Dell has somehow captured the essence of what reality is in a substantial portion of the Commonwealth we call home. Mining industries collapsed early on in the last century and created a tragic economic vacuum many counties still face today. They left behind patches (tiny mining villages) with names like Vulcan, Anthracite City, and Coal Castle (never mind the eponymous Coal Run, of which there are three in PA). The grim, stoic face put forth by many inabitants was something I keenly recognized in the characters of Mrs. Zoschenko and Val Claypool in particular. The apotheosis of athletes, the glorification of football [Penn State in particular], and the hard-drinking tendencies of many a coal cracker were other facets of Coal Region life I found to be described with amazing accuracy. Of course, one needn't be a coal cracker to appreciate the story of Ivan and his tremendously sad, isolated existence. I thoroughly enjoyed both this novel as well as "Back Roads", which touched on similar PA Coal Cracker elements. I am anxious to read Tawni O'Dell's next work of prose!
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Summary: Outstanding . . . and funny too!
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed this book from beginning to end. Although the subject matter was anything but lighthearted, the author drops some really funny lines into the narrative. For example, "I need a drink. Some people need to collect Beanie Babies. I'd rather be a drunk than a moron." In the afterward of the book, Ms. O'Dell alludes to some personal problems she was experiencing while in the midst of writing this book, but apparantly her ability to create truly memorable characters was not affected. I understand that Back Roads is currently being made into a movie and this one would make a great movie as well. I hope that the fact that only 13 people have reviewed this book to date does not reflect poor sales, because this one is a keeper - one of my new all-time favorites!
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Summary: A real look at real people
Review: Miss O'Dell's second novel, Coal Run, is an honest portrait of life in a small town in the now almost abandoned coal fields of Pennsylvania. The economic impact of a failed industry on the town members is played out in an engaging, well defined look at the lives of a small group of survivors, both those who stayed in the dying town, and those who left. Ivan Zoschenko, former star high school football athlete, represents both groups, having left the town after a career ending injury. His need for an a new life takes him to Florida where everyone is a newcomer and there are very few roots of friends and family. His longing for the remembered security of his youth in Coal Run never leaves him. His return to his home and his reinvolvement with people from his youth is full of conflicting emotions as he deals with a culture not willing or wanting change in any form. The long history of dealing with the disasters that are part of coal mining has resulted in a tired, cynical population just trying to survive as best they can.Ivan understands their world, but can never rejoin it. The release of a vicious prisoner and his impact on the town stirs up memories and secrets that affect them all.O'Dell masterfully lets the characters speak for themselves as they struggle once more to survive. Coal Run is honest, compelling and starkly realistic. It is headed for the best seller list, where it belongs.
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Summary: Read this!
Review: One of the best books I've read all year. I'm sorry it hasn't caught on in the press and the public, in spite of a positive People magazine review. A hidden gem. Way better than "Backroads", which was a fine debut. Troubled characters trying to squelch their demons and immature past actions that bore consequences they never dreamed of in small town USA. Good stuff.
Rating:
Summary: Best book I've read this summer...
Review: Simply stated, this is the best book I've read this summer. It is a deceptively slim book that has a great deal more to say than it often appears. There are knowing touches in the writing that provide an authentic sense of place and the people that inhabit it.
Rating:
Summary: another masterpiece from a masterful writer
Review: Tawni O'Dell tunnels deep into her characters so that they seem to be walking right off the pages. The terrain here, as in her superlative "Back Roads", is Pennsylvania--and it's country that's as alive as her characters. Ivan Zoschenko comes home around the same time a former teammate is about to be released from prison. Memories unravel, secrets come to light, people confront each other--and themselves. The book is flatout brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.
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