Sam was born with a condition called ocular albinism, causing his eyes to look red. Son of a devout catholic mother and a hard-working, loving father, Sam is told that God has made him special, not different. But alas, in 1963 there wasn't the spotlight on bullying like there is now so Sam falls victim to brutal and cruel classmates and adults, alike. As Sam grows up, he questions his faith and a God that would allow such pain to be inflicted not only upon himself but upon his parents too as they eventually suffer through illness and affliction. The closest Sam ever hears his mother question her faith is when she has to put Sam's father into a long-term care facility due to a stroke and she ponders the unfairness of this and life in general. When Sam's childhood bully commits heinous acts as an adult Sam becomes further impatient with a faith that seems to answer every problem with "it's God's will". Through a pilgrimage as an adult with his parents to Lourdes Sam learns to accept the religion his mother always wanted to impart on him. Sam's two close friends from childhood, Ernie and Mickie, do indeed make his life extraordinary but not quite in the way he thought as a youngster. The thing that bothered me as I was reading this book was a mantra his mother kept saying and one that Sam eventually seems to embrace: "everything happens for a reason". I have a hard time swallowing that sentiment but that's probably a personal shortcoming. All in all, I enjoyed this novel, and I would recommend it. It was very good storytelling!
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