Let's Bust a Recap : Stories I Wrote When I Was Young

Well, we're diving back into recaps with my little brother's self-published book! That's right. We have a couple of writers in the family. 

I started reading this collection of short stories back in March when I still lived in Florida and bare feet and tank tops were a normal part of my life. (Pro-Tip of the Day: Always carry a book with you everywhere. This photo was taken waiting at the airport to pick up my dad whose flight ended up being delayed a couple hours.)

Stories I Wrote When I Was Young consists of nine short stories that my brother wrote when he was a kid. This is actually the first collection of short stories I've read in its entirety. I own several short story collections, but they're not the books I naturally gravitate toward. So this was a fun introduction to the genre. 

This book was released on Amazon on February 1st, and obviously I bought it the same day. I wasn't sure what to expect, but the quality of the book itself is really nice. Reagan did a great job with all the formatting and the book feels good in your hands. It's the perfect size for a paperback and easy to read.

Now the stories themselves? Wow. The first couple stories about a killer bear, Reagan wrote when he was only 9 years old. In the very first story, you have this brilliant literary gem:

"But when I looked at her again, I could not help feeling that I had feelings for her."

I mean, if that doesn't evoke some serious emotion, I just don't know what will. 

But in all seriousness, the best part of reading this book is seeing the progression in the stories as Reagan grows as a writer and starts to flex those muscles. The stories are arranged in the chronological order of when he wrote them so the growth is clearly evident. Having grown up in the same house with this kid, I could easily pick out what influenced him, but his imagination and originality unquestionably shine through. While several of the early stories had me rolling my eyes hard or chuckling with amusement, by the end of the book I was genuinely interested in the plots of the last few stories. 

As far as recommending this book, I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, my brother created this and I'm proud as a mama bear of him and his book and all of it. I want everyone to buy a copy and for him to become fabulously rich and support me in my old age. On the other hand, all these stories tend to the horror side of things. There's not a single story that doesn't contain a violent, bloody death. There's more than a little profane language, and the crude and immature references to sex are not my jam. My brother didn't share his writing with me when we were kids because I didn't like that kind of stuff. I didn't like it then, and I don't like it now. Can I recommend it? Not without specific caveats. If you're looking for pure amusement, a study of a young writer's developing talent: yes, read it. Laugh, roll your eyes, enjoy the journey. If you're looking for brilliant writing and plots that will blow your mind and make you think: this isn't your book. I mean, he wrote these stories between the ages of 9 and 16. That has to be taken into account. As someone who personally knows and loves the author, my favorite parts were his dedication to our parents, the foreword and acknowledgements. I enjoyed discovering a side of my brother that I missed out on when we were kids. I was already out of the house when he was writing a lot of these stories, and being able to read them now has generated a lot of hysterical conversations between us the last couple months. I'll treasure this book for that.

And now for a little fun. I told my brother that I would rank his stories from my favorite to least favorite. So here we go, one through nine, best to worst. 

1. Terrorist Academy : This was actually one of Reagan's earlier stories, but I immediately liked this father/son tale, and it remained my favorite for the rest of the book.
2. The Violet Blossom & Dreams : For second place, we actually have a two-way tie. I really can't decide which of these two later stories I liked the best. One, an Indiana Jones-esque adventure tale and the other, a sci-fi action story: they couldn't be more different but I legitimately enjoyed them both.
3. 24 Hours : This crazy story about a boy getting stuck inside a locked-down building on a school field trip actually had me screaming at the characters not to be so stupid at certain points.
4. Predator on the Roof : This Jurassic Park set in an American high school type story had me rolling.
5. The Bear & The Bear Returns : Fifth place isn't so much a tie as it is the fact that it's hard to separate these two stories which involve the same characters. 
6. Grover Estate : This teens-get-stuck-at-a-creepy-serial-killer's-mansion story prompted a phone call where I asked my brother if he actually needed counseling when we were kids. 
7. Terror at the Door : Dead last. This story would have ranked 5th if it weren't for the disgusting sexual tension that was introduced halfway through that completely grossed me out and ruined the whole story for me.

There you have it. Nine stories written by a kid with a need to create. I can't wait to see what my brother does next, and I can't wait to read your first full-length novel, RP. Love you forever.

Hotel Del Coronado circa 2011

Buy Stories I Wrote When I Was Young here.