Abscond by Abraham Verghese

 

"You see, Ravi, this world isn't just all the things we can see and touch. It's also all the things we can't see, the things we choose to believe."

   -McGilicutty, from the short story

I was familiar with this author and the book was free from First Reads. I seldom read short stories because they just don't seem meaty enough to satisfy.

Ravi Ramanathanin is a 13-year-old growing up in New Jersey in 1967. He is quite a phenom in junior tennis and his father encourages him, but his mother does not. As an Indian-American kid he feels that he sticks "out like a sore thumb." And as one would expect he sometimes balks against his parents' routines and traditions.

When tragedy strikes the family, Ravi must find strength and compassion he didn't know he had. 

I have rated this book a 3. Although, I didn't love the story I learned some interesting things about Indian culture.