My Review

This local author consistently crafts literary works that provoke profound contemplation. He develops characters that transcend cultural boundaries, rendering them universally relatable despite their divergence from one’s immediate community. In this book, he does it again with Hank and Luis.

Hank is introduced to the reader as a grumpy old man. Luis is a typical teen trying to figure out the angles and skate by on the edges. What do they have in common? Nothing until community service brings them together. Suddenly, a friendship blooms, growing out of picking up trash. As Hank and Luis discover themselves, the reader is also filled in on their backgrounds and lives. But that’s really a side story. The true story is the progress they both make together. Luis helps Hank open up and discover a world he didn’t even realize he was looking for. Hank helps Luis recognize that sometimes what you are hoping for is not what you need, and it might have been right in front of you the entire time.

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Summary

Hank O’Sullivan, a sixty-five-year-old widower, lives a routine life, nursing his loneliness with cocktails at his favorite local bar in Austin, Texas. After a parking lot brawl lands him in jail, a judge sentences Hank to community service, picking up trash along the highway alongside a sixteen-year-old troublemaker, Luis Delgado. Luis has remarkable artistic abilities, but his penchant for sneaking out late at night and trespassing onto rooftops lands him on the same road crew as Hank. These loners form an unlikely friendship, and when Hank tells Luis about his desire to drive to Houston to reconnect with an old flame, Luis asks to tag along. Luis’s estranged mother lives in Houston, and he has been dreaming of a reunion. Hank agrees to take Luis with him, setting in motion a raucous trip in a hot pink 1970 Plymouth Barracuda. With humor and a bit of grace,The Codger and the Sparrow is a touching story about an unusual friendship that stretches across generations.