Beyond the River

Just outside town at the river, Jon Reeves thinks about his recent football success and the impact a failing grade in math would have on his future. He decides to get help from the brainiest, most standoffish girl in high school, the black sheep who never does anything outside of school.Nancy agrees to help because she imagines what fun it will be to see a jock squirming under her tutelage. She not only teaches him math but also grills him about his personal beliefs. Surprisingly, Jon responds to the challenge with forthrightness. This puzzles Nancy. Could this "pass-catching, body-building connoisseur of jock straps, " this Mormon boy on his way to a Utah college, be taking her seriously?What she doesn't realize is how seriously Jon is struggling to wrap his mind around puzzles he has never considered. He begins silently questioning everything, all the while feeling as if he is on an emotional roller coaster.Facing the beginnings of independent mental and moral standing, Jon finds himself often returning to the river. Free from pressure, he searches for grounding there on his own terms. Up to the final chapter of this well conceived and finely executed story, Michael Fillerup offers unexpected turns of plot and mind games that readers might themselves find difficult to dismiss with easy answers.