Little Toy Car

By: Gabe Oliver

“Don’t ever let the past keep you from living.  Enjoy every moment that live gives you.”

Meet Gene.  Just a little boy, growing up poor, living out of the back of his mother’s car.  He begins reflecting on the fact that one small decision may have changed the path of his life.  He knows there’s more out there, he knows that there is a better life for him out there, and he wants more than anything to figure out the meaning of life.  This novel follows Gene as he grows into adulthood and takes you through all his ups and downs, while he figures out who he is and what life means.

This is not my normal type of book.  While it’s listed as fiction, it had a very memoir feel to it.  The title on Amazon is “Little Toy Car: A Psychological Coming-of-Age Thriller.”  While it is a coming-of-age story, it is not a thriller.  There were parts of this book that were good; I especially love the way that Oliver wove the single event when Gene was a child throughout the entire book.  I loved seeing how even though Gene went through some difficult and awful things, he was still positive and had a great outlook on life.  Gene was smart and charismatic.   However, for me, it felt a bit choppy and there wasn’t enough dialogue.  There would be one idea on a particular day in one paragraph, and then the next paragraph it was the next day and something else was happening, and I did a double take.  There was a space between paragraphs, but there was a space between all paragraphs.  Therefore, the space gave no special indication that we’ve moved on from that day/time/event.  Even just some asterisks between would have helped.  Overall, a thought-provoking read – do you think one event could completely change the course of your life?

You can get your copy of this book here.