Rating: 
Summary: Christian values
Review: "Welcome to Fred" is a great book to read!
It was high quality, makes-you-think, good reading material. It actually took me probably 2 or 3 weeks to get into WTF - but once I started it was hard to put down. ;)
I could definitely relate to Mark Cloud due to a number of things.
I really understood alot about the whole PK thing and how people expect you to be perfect - and how you're supposed to be "better" than everyone else - since I myself am a preacher's kid. :) Also, I could relate to the small town thing, too. ;) It wasn't too difficult to see some of the same situations happening in the small town in which I live. *s* People are much the same all over the world, no matter what time period! :-D Parts of this book would absolutely crack me up because some of the phrases used or...what's the word...analogies were so funny and SO true. They were just the kinds of things that would make my weird sense of humour respond - []P>In the past week or so I've read several different new fiction books for teens. Although well-written, I found them to be in poor quality compared with "Welcome to Fred". The other books had a fine plot and interesting characters, but unfortunately they reflected the world in all of its worldliness.
Revenge, self-love and lust were encouraged, if not openly then in such a way as to make patience, humility and purity seem the "uncool" and "old-fashioned" thing. "Welcome to Fred" is such a terrific book. Not just because it has a fun cover. Not just because it is interesting. But I found it more so because it promotes solid Christian values. :) Good job, Brad!!!
Can't wait til your next book. :-D p.s. Especially liked the part about the Cloud's visiting the Church of Christ in California. lol!!! My dad is the minister of a c of C. *vbg* I've wondered the same as Mark about how c of C'ers use a pitchpipe and not consider it an instrument. *laughs*...:-D
Rating: 
Summary: Welcome indeed!
Review: A phenomenal read. Great humor. Great writing. And a terrific, nostalgic walk down memory lane. Just like Mark Cloud, Christian fiction is coming of age. And Brad Whittington is providing the spark. The next logical step is to drop the "Christian author" moniker altogether and keep promoting great writers (like Mr. Whittington) who just happen to be Christian.
Rating:
Summary: A True Gem
Review: Brad Whittington takes his readers into the heart and mind of an eleven year old boy named Mark Cloud, a preacher's son with the soul of Dylan and the looks and attire to match. Then he drops young Mark in the small town of Fred, Texas, and leads us on a hilarious tale as we watch Mark struggle to "fit in" in an environment totally unsuited to the hip-counter-culture member he desperately wants to be. If you've ever felt out-of- place, un-cool, or just unsure of yourself, Mr. Whittington will dance Mark Cloud into those memories and you'll find yourself suffering along with his embarrassments and cheering for his success as he struggles to make his mark in a small East Texas town. Along the way, Mark begins to question his father's religious beliefs and ultimately his own, grapples to find the answers, and is presented them in the most unlikely manner. The only disappointment is that the adventure ends too soon. Mr. Whittington would do well to bring young Mark back in an on-going sequel.
Rating:
Summary: Exciting, Funny, Contemplative
Review: Brad Whittington's book "Welcome to Fred" confirms what we knew all along, namely, that a fine talent for story-telling lay dormant in the heart and soul of our son. Though the book is largely autobiographical, we know which is fact and which is fiction. In either case, the narrative moves with a satisfying pace, incorporating mystery, humor, spiritual reflection, and real life. It invites you to walk along with Brad through his adolescence. But you don't have to be a family member to enjoy his very positive perspective of growing up. Did we enjoy it?
You betcha! "Welcome to Fred" is indeed a good read.
Rating:
Summary: Alienation: we've all experienced it!!!
Review: DO NOT judge a book by it's cover! Wow, this guy is a promising writer. If ever an author has been able to develope characters and storylines to which I can connect, here they are! Young Mark Cloud makes it over many of the bumps in the road of life as he makes the transition from a populated area of Ohio, to the east Texas rural thicket. Mark is a preacher's kid, but that doesn't hold him back from experiencing everything from bag-ladies to dirt road rednecks and community entanglements. Meanwhile, he deals with his own little problem: Who is he? How will he fit in? There are chapters in which I felt I was in his shoes, or maybe I should say, he has lived in my shoes! I actually laughed outloud in some places. Folks, you will be able to identify with the main character in this brilliantly written novel. Keep a hanky nearby, because there is the risk of tears of both laughter and empathy.
Rating:
Summary: A Highly Enjoyable Read
Review: Eight-year-old Mark Cloud's family moves from Fort Worth to Ohio just when California's flower children are spreading their message of peace and love throughout the country and beyond. It's a challenging time for the whole nation --- and for Mark, whose Texas upbringing did little to prepare him for the hippies he observes, the black neighbor he befriends, or the homeless woman he meets. The woman, whom Mark dubs the Creature, makes curious and disturbing comments that keep him coming back for more. In a lucid moment, she tells him a chilling story that will have ramifications throughout his adolescence --- even after his family moves once again, this time back to Texas and the tiny community of Fred. By now, though, Mark is a preteen who has adopted the clothing style of Ohio's hippies, something that does not set well with the jeans-and-cowboy-boots crowd in his new school. Mark makes periodic stabs at trying to fit in, even to the point of using less-than-perfect grammar. But as a PK (preacher's kid), the situation at times looks pretty hopeless, even after he converts to denim. Worst of all, he begins to question the very existence of God, placing him squarely in no-man's land, a place right smack between the world and the kingdom. The clouds part and the sun breaks through, though, when his father announces that the family will take a summer vacation to California, the Mecca of Mystical Hipness, the place where Mark is sure he'll find the answers to all those adolescent questions that plague him. What ensues is a comedy of errors, the kind of car trip that makes participating parents ask each other, "What were we thinking?" There are the usual car problems that become unusual in a PK's world and strange encounters with even stranger people. And Mark's father's unwavering trust in the professional courtesy of one clergyman to another results in a priceless visit with "Elder Nelson." Finally, the family reaches California --- where an unlikely link to the Creature jolts Mark out of his state of spiritual uncertainty, and where he also discovers his true identity as a pale and skinny kid from East Texas. Brad Whittington writes like he knows his stuff, and well he should --- his parents even attest to the semi-autobiographical nature of WELCOME TO FRED. His inability to fit in rings true on so many levels. Only a PK can reveal how it feels to be treated differently and to have a different set of expectations placed on you simply because of your father's (or mother's) occupation as a pastor. Only someone who has struggled with the more difficult questions of faith --- and the more difficult people of faith --- can write with such candor about one boy's efforts to come to terms with the foundations of Christian belief. And only someone who has felt like a misfit could write in such authentic detail about what it's like to have a psychedelic spirit in a country-western culture. What elevates this book above others of its kind --- if in fact there are others of its kind in the Christian market --- is Whittington's ability not only to create believable, well-rounded characters but also to give them believable, well-rounded dialogue to work with. Getting both the characterization and the dialogue right seems to be a rarity. But Whittington proves himself to be well in control of both, and his attention to detail is superb. Shortly after its release, a Broadman & Holman editor told a group of writers that they should use Whittington's book as a model for the quality the publisher is looking for in future novels. That's a good sign, because WELCOME TO FRED is among those recent fiction releases in the Christian market that have raised the bar, which in turn will force authors to produce higher-quality work. WELCOME TO FRED is a highly enjoyable read, one that is likely to resonate particularly with those who survived a '60s adolescence. --- Reviewed by Marcia Ford
Rating:
Summary: Tough to be a Yankee in Texas
Review: Even if you're from Oklahoma, you're a Yankee. This story rings so true! Welcome to Fred takes me back to my 4 years of hell in a Baptist College in Texas. The story is warm and personal, the main character real(to me, at least). His triumph is that he comes to terms with his doubts about the faith he was brought up to have, and continues to love and respect those who tried to instill that faith in him. It would have been tempting to draw his father as a two-dimensional intolerant preacher, but he sees him as loving, intelligent, eccentric, and still true to his calling in the ministry. He almost gives preachers a chance! I'm definitely going to send a copy to my cousin, a PK cut from the same cloth as Mark Cloud. But misfits of all religions should be able to relate to Mark's search for individuality. We should all be so lucky to escape this time as well as Mark does. I'd be interested to see the further history of Mr. Cloud. Does he find peers in college? Are there years of therapy in store for him?
Rating:
Summary: Refreshing, heart-warming, funny and close to home
Review: I couldn't put it down. Sometimes I laughed out loud. Sometimes I stopped to ponder and reminisce, with a smile. The author has captured the timeless cultural, moral, relational and spiritual tensions experienced by young people of every generation, especially those who don't quite fit in. In this case it's a hip city kid of the 1960's, the son of a Baptist preacher, who finds himself living his teenage years in the small rural community of Fred, a real town in East Texas. The story is delightful and compelling, warm and humorous. Rural folks will immediately relate to the culture of Fred. Those who grew up in the 60's will understand the main character's mindset, formed during his childhood years in an urban setting. Christians will appreciate the honest treatment of spiritual struggles. Those of us who were always a little different growing up will embrace it all. Much of the humor is rooted in the author's insightfully realistic portrayal of rural East Texas life. I ought to know. I'm from one of the towns mentioned in the book, just down the road from Fred.
Rating:
Summary: Got His Number
Review: I have Mark Cross' number. The narrator of Brad Whittington's fine novel, "Welcome to Fred," gets a 999 for turning the sadness - and evil - he confronts topsy-turvy or every-which-way, but never loose. Mark is a Preacher's Kid desperate for an attitude. We get to look over his shoulder as he struggles to find an attitude he's comfortable with. You've never read a better rendering of a what-I-did-on-my-summer-vaction story than Mark's ode to Southern Baptists and the art of Galaxy maintenance that graces the last quarter of "Welcome to Fred." Although Mark's life in Fred, Texas is full of hoots,hollers and happenstance - both happy and sad - Whittington sets the real power of the story in Middletown, Ohio and in L.A. Remember the name Pauline. She will lodge in your memory along with the most memorable people you've ever met between the covers of a book. And you'll be glad she's there and thank Whittington for that.
Rating:
Summary: Thanks, Fred! Welcome to Brad Whittington -
Review: Thanks, Fred! If you hadn't been the kind of small Texas town you were, we would never have had the chance to read about Mark Cloud. His struggle to master the footwork of a Texas two-step while staying connected to his rock-and-roll soul is classic! Although every state has its small towns, most non-Texans don't realize just how much the small-town attitude is intensified by the extreme distance between any two locations on the Texas map. Mark Cloud falls face-first into that enormous empty space and manages to survive growing up there with most of his own special view of life intact (but not unchanged). Everyone who's ever been required to sit in the "misfit seat" will feel right at home with Mark's struggles. Which were certainly Brad's struggles, too - he's obviously "writing what he knows." Can't wait to see what Mr. Whittington has on his computer for the next book. Until then, take a trip to Fred - it's worth your time to visit!
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