As revelatory as it is an intimate self-examination as to why any of us do what we do or become what we become, new Christian author Kerry Grinkmeyer pens an extraordinary, telltale autobiographical debut novel in Tall Grass. On these pages, he recalls his Midwest Americana coming of age journey during the mid-twentieth century, and explores the particular sadness of his own childhood as well as the bond between mothers and sons. At the heart of this poignant and bittersweet memoir is a boy who readers will intermittently want to pat on the back, take under their wing, and give a good rapping on the knuckles. At six Kobe is a winning sort of kid. His and his brothers' futures are bright-there's nothing that seems impossible; they have the world on a string. Kobe, Rooney, and Butch love kick-the-can and God, and life is darn well perfect until the doctor who delivered all three boys discovers a lump in their mother's breast. Within two years quiet life on Church Street in the Cincinnati suburb of Saint Brainerd, Ohio, turns into a black hole of loss. Kobe has good reason to question his faith in God, the love of his family, and how anything in the world will ever be put right. Forced to move to Champaign Illinois, he and his older brother are left to their own devices. Their father remains emotionally detached as their stepmother parents in a way that is contrived and only further distances Kobe. Confused and bent on rebellion, Kobe must ultimately decide for himself what sort of man he is to become, and that God is ever-present.