Ugly To Start With by John Michael Cummings

 This e-book was sent to me by Vera at Luxury Reading for review.

Jason is the youngest of his siblings growing up in Harper's Ferry, Virginia. He lives in a tourist town and the town is filled with little shops for souvenirs and Jason's home is in the center of all of that. His father is an extreme junk collector and so the yard is filled with all of his father's "treasures". The town has approached his parents about purchasing the place for historic reasons, but his parents are not inclined to let the place go.

Jason is a very artistic, sensitive young man and very different from his prejudicial father. His father has an extreme dislike for black people, tourists and just about anyone who doesn't share his beliefs.

The novel is different short stories about Jason's life. We are brought into his world as he learns his art, becomes involved in a few relationships, including one with an African American girl from one town away.
These stories are well-rounded and pull you into the heart of Jason, who is a young boy/man trying to live and love what he desires to be and do. 

There is one story that made me cringe a little. An older man that Jason becomes involved with seemed like a real creep and I was quite disturbed by the predatory nature of the man. Don't have a problem with men and men, if that is what your nature is, but I really didn't feel that this was of a conciliatory nature, more of a pedophiliac nature.

Otherwise, the stories were interesting and made you root for Jason and hope that he would make it beyond the prejudices and small town mentality that he was being raised up in.

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