“Most people are slow to champion love because they fear the transformation it brings into their lives.” – Aberjhani
Title: Be My Valentine, Bobby Bryson
Author: Geoffrey Knight
Publisher: Wilde City Press
Pages/Word Count: 27 Pages
Rating: 5 Stars
Blurb: When seven-year-old Mikey Madsen makes a Valentine’s Day card for someone named Bobby Bryson, it would seem to those around him that the very cornerstone of society might crumble. His teacher has a melt-down, his school principal goes into damage control and his single mother Kate isn’t quite sure how to handle the fact that her young son has just declared his love for another boy.
Will Mikey’s teachers and grandparents convince him that he has made some sort of ‘mistake’? Will society’s perceptions of romance forever alter one young boy’s understanding of true love? And just who is Bobby Bryson?
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Review: This has to be one of the sweetest twenty-seven page stories I have ever read. When little Mikey Madsen made his Valentine’s Day card, he had no idea that he was going to set off many battles among family and friends alike.
Mikey Madsen’s father died, leaving Mikey and his mother to try to muddle through life without him. His mother is doing her best, but when Mikey’s teacher and principal show up at her house to advise her about Mikey’s valentine he made for Bobby Bryson, she feels lost. It seems these two people from the school have their own opinions of what Mikey should be doing, but his mother doesn’t agree with them. She does however realize that this is the type of situation that requires a man’s touch. She does what she thinks is best and contacts Mikey’s grandparents. When the talk with his grandfather seems to do more bad than good, Kate feels lost; she has no idea what to do to help her son.
In the end, once the mystery of Bobby Bryson’s identity is solved, Mikey gets some sage advice, his mother realizes that love can come when you least expect it, and you might just fall in love yourself.
This book truly touched me. Kate was faced with a situation that isn’t always easy when your kids are teenagers or twenty-somethings. I have always said that if my own children came to me and told me they were in love with someone of the same sex, my response would be “I love you and who is she?” I can’t imagine how that conversation would go down when teachers, administrators, and family members are saying the exact opposite and my child is only seven years old.
This short little story made quite an impression on me and I think it’s an amazing read. It made me laugh, cry, and cheer. I highly recommend this story and I hope it affects you much like it did me. I absolutely loved it.
You can buy Be My Valentine, Bobby Bryson here:
