Since the story is told from Josie’s perspective, I was often left wanting a peek into Samuel’s mind. Their unusual friendship introduces them both to new perspectives and they form a bond of the soul. Josie however is an old soul with a corresponding level of maturity unique to a thirteen year old. His sense of rejection causes him to reject Josie. Samuel is an angry young man not fully accepted due to his mixed Indian and Caucasian heritage. There is a significant five year age gap between Josie and Samuel when first they meet. Another skill Amy has mastered is the ability to take potentially scandalous relationships like those that are inter-faith, inter-racial or with an inappropriate age gap and portray them instead with innocence, self-discipline and restraint. Her ability to write emotionally complex characters always draws me in to her stories. I only discovered Amy Harmon this year, but she has quickly become one of my favorite authors. And that's where we learn.how powerfully moving the story of the Navajo nation is as well as the spirituality of the Native American. Tavia Gilbert does such a nice job with all the characters but is most impressive in her pronunciation of Navajo phrases. I loved this book and will listen to it more than once. Interwoven throughout this book is music and the impact classical music has on them as friends, individuals and musicians. Their story evolves over several years as they both become the world to each other, then grow apart, experience tragedies and triumphs and find a place for themselves.

It's the lovely and powerful story of a young half-Navajo boy (who sure does grow up nicely) and his school bus seatmate, a 13 year old (going on 21) girl child who becomes his mentor between his Native American world and her Utah world. Listening to a good book adds a layer of depth and detail that one often misses when reading.this book is no exception. Running Barefoot is an early work of hers and I had read it a while ago. She is smart, she writes beautiful stories, she is clever, she is creative, she writes so her readers learn stuff and she is an honorable writer.

Running barefoot by amy harmon