Broken Bridges by Roy Kindelberger

Title: Broken Bridges
Author: Roy Kindelberger
Genre: Children’s middle-grade
Publisher: Black Rose Writing (August 21, 2013)

Buy Links:
Black Rose Writing | Amazon | Book Depository | Espresso Book Machine | Amazon UK

Synopsis:

Twelve-year-old Rey is sent to an old rundown steel town near Pittsburgh, where he has to deal with his aging grandparents, isolated dad, missing mom, bullies, broken bridges, and horseradish sauce.

While Rey sits on an airplane bound for Pittsburgh, he clutches a crumpled note. It’s been forty-one days since his mom left—no words since. Rey’s dad is sending him to Pittsburgh for the summer to stay with his grandparents, so his dad can pull his life together. Rey feels so alone.

Somehow Rey has to find himself. He’s timid, unsure, yet has to make choices. These choices lead Rey to become more confident, as he makes the transition into his teenage years.

Rey arrives in the middle of a heat wave. He quickly runs into trouble with some bullies and is in several difficult situations. Rey hangs out with his friend, Jason and discovers a mentor in his grandfather—bonds which are all put to the test when his grandfather becomes extremely sick and Rey has a final confrontation with the bullies. And then there are his parents.

Will things ever return to normal?

Author Bio:

Roy was born near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He loves sharing stories with his children and students. They are always looking out for a story, book, poem, or song that makes a difference in their lives.

Roy taught kindergarten for fifteen years. He now teaches second grade.
Roy lives with his wife, Laura and two wonderful children, Emily and Hailey in Bothell, Washington.
You can reach him at: http://www.roykindelberger.com/

Author Links:

Website: http://www.roykindelberger.com/index.html 
Blog: http://www.roykindelberger.com/dagoblog.html
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/roy.kindelberger

Review:

I really enjoyed Broken Bridges. The main character is a troubled boy called Rey, he stays with his grandpa and grandma during the summer. Having a friend there was great for him, although he did get into a bit of bother at times. I was sad at the end when his grandpa passed away but he has really great memories of his grandpa and it was really nice.