In-between frequenting live music events, floating down rivers, hikes and my brief dating stint my book project remains center focus – I had to find a way to return home. This is her story.īe it for curiosity, inspiration, entertainment, or to learn the life-lessons of 'the road' I recommend you read Hippie Boy.Although we’re closing another summer, I would be remiss if I left out the very relevant Narrative Writing workshop I attended late July, hosted by author, Ingrid Ricks. You need to find your own way and your own voice, something Ingrid Ricks has achieved. In that sense Hippie Boy is also a tale of growing up and realizing you can't depend on others. But alas, while when you live on the edge and get the thrills, you also get the spills. Indeed, nothing beats being your own boss, doing things your way, and making your own rules. I agree with her father when he asks rhetorically, 'This is the life, isn't it?' while relaxing in a motel room drinking sugar-free Doctor Pepper after a hard day's work. Reading the latter passages you actually feel the crisp cool morning air on your face as you drive down the highway with Willie Nelson on the radio singing 'On the Road Again.' I was particularly impressed by the contrast that Ingrid draws between the passages depicting the asphyxiating environment of the family home, where a an excessively devout mother permits the stepfather to employ religion as a means of control, and those describing the freedom that the author experiences when she is on the road selling tools with her dad.

She does not sugarcoat the shortcomings of the members of her family. This is a memoir, and the author tells it like it is, both the good and the bad. It is about dealing with poverty, about dealing with the imperfections of those entrusted to care for you, and about proving yourself by fighting, not only against the things without, but also against those that lurk within. This the tale of a young girl and her siblings immersed in the maelstrom of a family that unstitches at the seams. But who needs fiction when you can read Ingrid Rick's true story 'Hippie Boy'?

Who doesn't like stories where the protagonists overcome difficult challenges to succeed and make their dreams come true? In this world of broken dreams that is one of the purposes of fiction, to allow us to visualize a better life for ourselves, even if it may be unrealistic and beyond our grasp.

Hippie Boy by Ingrid Ricks