One of the Boys by Daniel Magariel

I read this novel at the suggestion of author Andrew Smith. I completely understand why he was promoting this novel. It was a wonderful, but truly heartbreaking story of two young boys who must bond together to survive the emotional, mental, and physical abuse form their mean-spirited, yet charismatic father.

Through their father's manipulation, they leave Kansas, and their mother, to start a new life in New Mexico. So eager to gain the approval of their dad, the boys are willing to endure the abuse, until they finally realize that they can no longer do it.  It is a gripping story that will surely have you reaching out to help these two boys, only to understand that because they have each other, they may just be able to make it.

From Amazon:

A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice
A “gripping and heartfelt” (The New York Times Book Review) story about two young brothers contending with the love they have for their abusive father, One of the Boys is a stunning, compact debut by a major new talent.

The three of them—a twelve-year-old boy, his older brother, their father—have won the war: the father’s term for his bitter divorce and custody battle. They leave their Kansas home and drive through the night to Albuquerque, eager to begin again, united by the thrilling possibility of carving out a new life together. The boys go to school, join basketball teams, make friends. Meanwhile their father works from home, smoking cheap cigars to hide another smell. But soon the little missteps—the dead-eyed absentmindedness, the late night noises, the comings and goings of increasingly odd characters—become worrisome, and the boys find themselves watching their father change, grow erratic, then dangerous.

Set in the sublimely stark landscape of suburban New Mexico and a cramped apartment shut tight to the world, One of the Boys conveys with propulsive prose and extraordinary compassion a young boy’s struggle to hold onto the pieces of his shattered family. Tender, moving and beautiful, Daniel Magariel’s masterful debut is a story of resilience and survival: two foxhole-weary brothers banding together to protect each other from the father they once trusted, but no longer recognize. With the emotional core of A Little Life and the speed of We the Animals, One of the Boys is among the most remarkable debut novels you’ll ever read.