Last week, since I was out of school for a semester break, I flipped through the titles on my Kindle, opening some of the books loaded onto it only to read couple of pages and click out with disinterest. Nothing was holding my focus; I was craving a good book but I didn’t have the patience to get past the first couple of chapters.
I clicked onto one of the books that my mom had loaned me on my Kindle, and called Into The Free. I started reading it, and didn’t stop. A couple of late nights later, I was done the book and was very impressed with it.
Into The Free by Julie Cantrell is a novel that is written from the point of view of Millie Reynolds, a young girl living in Mississipi during the depression.
Millie faces several challenges, including an abusive rodeo father, an absent mother, and grandparents who refuse to acknowledge her existence. Into The Free chronicles her life from 9 years old into adulthood, and through many tumultuous incidents that happen in the small southern town in which Millie has stayed her entire life. Millie is enchanted by the gypsies that visit her town each year, and longs to run away with them to get away from her life.
Without giving too much away, this is one of those books in which a lot happens.
I was hooked after the first two pages. The writing is interesting and descriptive, and the author captures the essence of a young girl perfectly.
The descriptiveness of the book had me walking through the scenes in my mind with her; from the small shanty where she lived to the streets of Millerville, the town in which Millie lives.
The book reminded me The Help, and even a little bit of To Kill a Mockingbird (though I’m sure that could be argued). It had some mild religious undertones, which could be ignored if you aren’t religious.
Overall, Into the Free was an awesome book worth reading.