I liked this ... I think I read it too close to This Tender Land, which I felt had so many similarities. While the latter states it IS a bit of a retelling of Huck Finn/The Odyssey, this book referenced, and our MC even compared his adventures to Huck Finn and the Odyssey (as well as other classics). Both featured an 11 year old narrator, wise beyond his years (especially in vocabulary and literary thought), an older brother, a younger "sister" and many adventures, and religious encounters.

Loved Swede's story/poem, that was fun to follow
When the father sang a little, the narrator in audio sang (much prefer that to "patter-speak)

I can't decide if I liked Ruben breaking the wall and talking to the reader ... he did it a lot, all the way through. "The last thing you expected, right? Me too."

As the book's narration is the mind of an 11-year old, I did have to wonder at his vocabulary and lyrical voice. So many words that just aren't used everyday ... I was listening to the audio, so I didn't note all the words I found just outside the norm: delamination, surmounted, torpid, beneficence, refutation, trenchant ... just a few I did quickly jot down. I happened to check the text for the word "timber" connected to voice ... that's timbre. Timber is wood. It was pronounced correctly (tam-br) in audio. Forbears was pronounced "forebear-ers" (which is what I thought it was for years, but it's not).  Other words I note: sneaked, cerulean, jury-rigged, rifle (going through something, vs riffled), route (pronounced rowt in audio).

There are "miracles" throughout this book ... I think this might be more of an "ahhhh" for those with strong religious beliefs. For me, all of these magical/unexplained happenings throughout ... walking on air? A never emptying soup pot (ala Jesus and the loaves/fishes), guidance and healing. I admit, I still got a little caught up in the otherworldly ending, but when I think about it all ... um, really?

And I feel a little terrible about this, but I got a little tired of hearing about Ruben's breathing troubles repeated so often throughout. I can't even imagine how hard it would be to live with asthma!  

I HATED the musical interludes between chapters in the audio. Just. No. 

Each chapter had a heading ... but there weren't numerical chapters given, which leaves me feeling adrift. I need the "chapter 2" or "chapter 21" and to see how many chapters there are. Sometimes reading over the chapter headings in the Table of Contents (Kindle/Audio ... physical book doesn't even provide a TOC) can totally bring me back to what happened at each point in the book, but these headings were a little obscure, didn't really refresh my memories.

I had this book in all three formats. I'd found a physical copy at a thrift store, bought it for the LFL. That pushes a book up my TBR. I was able to get the audio/Kindle copy easily from the library (Libby/Hoopla).  The Kindle copy had an "Introduction to the 20th Anniversary Edition" which was interesting (as the original release was on 9-11 ... hard to  push a release and book tours in the aftermath of that tragedy). The Kindle copy also had discussion questions, which I appreciate. My own little bookclub ... making me consider things I might not have on my own. 

So - I liked this, not one I'll rave about, but still might recommend. 
It was completely clean, no profanity or sex. 
Past tense ?? First Person - single POV