home in one piece

Title: Home In One Piece by John Thompson

Genre: Biography

Annotation: A North Dakota farm boy fights for his life on a frozen, January day when his arms are ripped off in a machinery accident.

Review: Don't ever let someone tell you that farm work isn't hard. It is downright life-threatening, especially in John Thompson's case. While grinding feed on his family's farm in North Dakota one winter morning, John slipped and became entangled in the corkscrew-like auger he was operating. John awakes with the urgent licking of his beloved Blue Heeler, Tuffy, only to find that both of his arms have been brutally torn asunder from his body. Miraculously, John finds the strength to walk across the farmyard to his empty house, where he maneuvers around locked doors and calls for help. This young man lives to tell the tale of his harrowing surgery and road to recovery in his autobiography, Home In One Piece.

Having lived on a farm in North Dakota as a child and on into young adulthood, I related to a lot of the imagery that John used in his story, and found many aspects of his & his family's life to be similar to my own growing up. Stories of farming accidents are all too common back home, and this one was as heart-wrenching as the others. One cannot help but feel empathy for his family as they watch their son work through such a grueling path to wholeness. John's unintended heroism sparks hope for many across the United States, and even across the world. These wounds are not merely on the surface, but extend deep inside his psyche. The stress of publicity and emotional healing drains John as he adjusts back into everyday life and seeks to find a place in his rural surroundings.

Young adult stories often cover topics of emotional angst and adjusting to life changes. In John Thompson's case, these same issues occur in the face of great adversity, yet still ring as true as for any other teenager today. When the world offers us the gravest of circumstances, humanity still can be distilled into a melting pot of common experiences that translate across the ages and countless cultures. John's writing style reads as if he's talking directly to the reader; there is no pretense in his account. This book is one to which any adolescent can relate. Every person has a need to find their purpose in life and etch out the path which they must follow, and Home In One Piece illustrates that journey with frankness and precision.