Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Roland West, Loner
    Roland West, Loner
    Roland West, Loner
    Ebook370 pages5 hours

    Roland West, Loner

    By Theresa A Linden and Susan Peek

    4/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    High school can be tough on any kid, but it's worse for a loner.

    Roland West, Loner is a contemporary Christian story about a fourteen-year-old boy who finds himself friendless at a new school and the subject of cruel rumors. 

    Roland lives with his father and older twin brothers in a seclud

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSilver Fire Publishing
    Release dateJan 18, 2016
    ISBN9780996816854
    Roland West, Loner
    Author

    Theresa A Linden

    Theresa Linden has been writing stories since grade school. Her father was in the Coast Guard, so she grew up near the ocean, living in California, the tiny island of Guam, and Oahu (one of the Hawaiian Islands). Moving from place to place left her with the impression that life is an adventure. She has since learned that a life of faith brings the greatest adventures of all. So now she loves to bring the Catholic faith to life through adventurous stories. She has books for children, teens, and adults. Three of her books won awards from the Catholic Press Association. She is a member of CatholicTeenBooks.com and the Catholic Writers Guild. Her books are featured on Catholic Reads, Catholic Mom and Daughter, and Virtue Works Media. A wife, homeschooling mom, and Secular Franciscan, she resides in northeast Ohio with her family.

    Related to Roland West, Loner

    Related ebooks

    YA Family For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      All My Tomorrows

      May 10, 2022

      It was Misha’s first day minding the shop, and already she’d broken the fifth rule. Always lock the door immediately. When you had the most valuable merchandise in the universe, you had to take the utmost precautions. She hadn’t meant to disobey. It

      13 min read

    • Article

      AN EXCERPT FROM The First Line of Dante’s ‘Inferno’

      Dec 1, 2020

      Early forties, tall, self-possessed. Hiking in the woods in search of her missing sister. A young park ranger, late twenties. Pretty. Slim. Strong. The play is formatted like prose; however, it is intended for performance. If actors simply perform th

      15 min read

    • Article

      Sifting

      Mar 4, 2024

      CASSANDRA GARBUS is the author of the novel Solo Variations. Her fiction has appeared in Kenyon Review Online, American Short Fiction, Texas Review, Meridian, Louisiana Literature, and The Cortland Review. Lily slumps on the living room couch, absorb

      22 min read

    • Article

      Appreciating Hate

      Sep 10, 2021

      Felix thought of his mind as though it were artwork – a painting. His skull was the frame, the canvas inside the frame was the grey matter, the applied paint was his education, and that insubstantial feeling evoked by the art piece was his consciousn

      7 min read

    • Article

      The Education of Mrs. R.

      Sep 6, 2022

      An adolescent shriek woke her. Cockerels, she thought, cockerels, with a wry twist to the word. She lay in the dark listening. There was no use in covering her head; the screaming still came through. The soloist was suddenly submerged in the chorus.

      13 min read

    • Article

      Portal To Peril

      Feb 6, 2019

      Portal To Peril
      7 min read

    • Article

      Practicing

      Mar 15, 2018

      This would have been her favorite season in the Allegheny woods. The shadows of the trees were rickety, and the wind had sap in its scent. But last week, Ty had left; now one day decayed into the next. Their house was abandoned. Only their father, si

      18 min read

    • Article

      The Kindness of Strangers

      Apr 27, 2020

      The Kindness of Strangers
      5 min read

    • Article

      Intelligent Creatures

      Jul 6, 2023

      Intelligent Creatures
      19 min read

    • Article

      Sound and Silence: The Millions Interviews Joe Meno

      Nov 9, 2022

      "Happiness is possible—it just doesn’t last. We don’t have any right to expect it to last." The post Sound and Silence: The Millions Interviews Joe Meno appeared first on The Millions.

      7 min read

    • Article

      The Hound and the Hidden Homework

      Feb 1, 2019

      The Hound and the Hidden Homework
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Sublime Poetics of Linda Gregg

      Nov 16, 2023

      Linda Gregg was looking to model truth, that finicky thing impossible to hold in its entirety. The post The Sublime Poetics of Linda Gregg appeared first on The Millions.

      7 min read

    • Article

      Intarsia

      Feb 6, 2020

      Intarsia
      6 min read

    • Article

      Three Poems

      Jul 1, 2018

      — After the New York Times newsfeed from the week of May 6–11, 2018 This week in which faculty members at the University of Floridashove black graduates offstage for dancing in honor of what is regularly denied them; in which Nordstrom Rackapologizes

      5 min read

    • Article

      Karl Geary: ‘I Was Writing Out Of Confusion And Horror, Rage And Love’

      Mar 25, 2023

      Before making his literary debut in 2017 with Montpelier Parade, Irish-born novelist Karl Geary spent more than two decades acting and screenwriting, with credits including Coney Island Baby (starring his wife-to-be, Breaking Bad’s Laura Fraser), The

      4 min read

    • Article

      The Library of Gromma

      Jul 10, 2023

      Zac was sweating and panting as he reached the top of the hill. The crooked beams of the library loomed over him. He dropped the buckets of water, swore at the few drops that spilled, and escaped the piercing morning sun in the shade of the library.

      22 min read

    • Article

      Taro

      Apr 5, 2022

      Taro
      12 min read

    • Article

      O Fortuna, Velut Luna

      Sep 15, 2018

      What is Miss Treece’s trouble, according to a popular notion? The man A has failed to show up. Arousing herself at the restaurant, she fixes her lipstick when her solo supper concludes and takes herself down the stairs situated behind the bar. There,

      3 min read

    • Article

      The New Arrival

      Oct 1, 2020

      Maya had never visited the public library before, and at this rate it looked like she never would. She knew it was around here somewhere, but the fog was so thick she could barely see her sneakers. Putting off her homework had been a mistake, but get

      6 min read

    • Article

      The Parting Shot

      May 8, 2020

      The Parting Shot
      5 min read

    • Article

      The Juggler’s Wife

      Jun 9, 2020

      The situation in itself is not unique. There was a man who hated his job and wanted a new one. There was a man who was sick of his boring job and wanted an exciting job instead. This man was depressed, but he saw a way out. He thought this way out wa

      24 min read

    • Article

      Falling In Love, By The Book

      May 18, 2021

      Falling In Love, By The Book
      4 min read

    • Article

      A Year in Reading: Hermione Hoby

      Dec 7, 2021

      How many did I read? Not counting plays, not counting books started and not quite finished – forty five. Next year, I’ll fail better. The post A Year in Reading: Hermione Hoby appeared first on The Millions.

      5 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Roland West, Loner

    4/5

    2 ratings1 review

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      I really enjoyed this book. It introduced me to Saint Conrad of Parzham, and I love it when books introduce me to saints I didn’t know before. Roland West Loner is about two fourteen-year-old boys, Roland and Peter. Roland is trying to escape his maniac brother who will do pretty much anything to go on a trip to Italy that their father planned for Roland. Peter has just received an inheritance from his grandfather, and Roland feels very drawn to it. Peter is not very nice to his little brother Toby who has autism, or to his friend Caitlyn, while Roland is a very private person who has trouble trusting others. I really enjoyed watching the character growth of these two, as well as the character growth that Caitlyn had. Roland West Loner didn’t feel like it needs a sequel, but there were some unanswered questions that I will talk about under spoiler warnings.

      I thought that the writing got a little bit sloppy at the end. I thought that the showdown, if you can call it that, with Mr. Reinhart could have been done better. I mean, Jarrett stops him from getting away and then tries to take the box from him and the other characters laugh. It didn’t make sense that they laughed, even though it probably looked funny, Mr. Reinhart and Jarrett getting into a cat fight and slapping each other’s hands, but Mr. Reinhart was trying to steal the Saint Conrad relics and I didn’t think that laughing at that part was very appropriate. I was also rather disappointed by how quickly Dominic and Foster made up. Foster had been bullying Dominic for the past year or more and then Dominic was miraculously healed from his paralysis and the next time Foster sees him they make up really quickly. I thought that there really would have to be more emotional healing for both of them. It makes it look like Foster had stopped being friends with Dominic because Dominic couldn’t walk, when Peter said it was because after he was paralyzed, Dominic spent a year pushing the away the people who cared about him, and Foster was hurt because of that, and then Foster hurt Dominic by horrendous bullying. I really thought that there would need to be more healing and forgiving each other.

      I also thought that there could have been more of an exchange of explanations between Dominic and Roland. Dominic had been gossiping about Roland almost constantly at school, and there was never any discussion between those two. Dominic never talked to Roland enough to know how much his gossiping bothered Roland and apologize. In fact, I doubt that Dominic even realized he was gossiping. Once you start gossiping you start to forget that that is what you are doing, and you convince yourself that you are only ‘discussing’ a person, not tearing them down and spreading rumors, but I don’t think Dominic had yet admitted to himself that he was gossiping about Roland, and I still would have liked to have seen them get to know one another enough for Roland to help Dominic to realize that he was hurting people by spreading rumors, and Dominic to apologize.

      Two other things that we never learned were; how did Roland’s mother die? And why is Roland afraid of cold water? Roland’s mother died in an accident during an archeology project and, because of Roland’s fear of water I’m thinking it had something to do with water, but did it? We never learn. There was another little tidbit hinted at that was never actually discussed and that was that Roland runs away every year on the day his mother died. Where does he go? What does he do? How does his family react? At this point Roland has had enough character growth that an explanation wouldn’t do that much for our understanding of his character, but if we had learned that at the beginning of the book I think it could have added character depth.

      The ending was not very satisfying. It could almost be, but it isn’t. I feel bad for Keefe because Roland’s dad said “You’re the one I overlook the most.” Which is true. He isn’t as badly behaved as Jarrett that he gets a lot of attention from reprimands, but he isn’t as good as Roland so he gets attention for being a good person. Even so I was frustrated when Keefe got the trip to Italy. Jarrett describes Keefe as his conscience, and Keefe may stop Jarrett from doing worse things to Roland, but he doesn’t stop Jarrett from doing a lot of bad things to Roland. He even helps to lock Roland in his tower because “You have no idea what he originally had planned for you.” So he was stopping Jarrett from sinning, by committing a smaller sin himself, and that didn’t seem right. For that reason, I found it frustrating that Keefe ended up getting the reward of the trip to Italy. I know that it was more Roland’s victory, he controlled himself and accepted his punishment humbly, but if Roland messed up enough to lose his trip to Italy than Keefe didn’t deserve it either.

      Despite of my issues with parts of it, I did really like this book, Roland and Peter both had really good character growth, as did Caitlyn, and I plan on reading Theresa Linden’s Liberty Trilogy. I feel sort of bad because I’m the first not-five-star reviewer, and I did enjoy the book, I just thought that it could have been even better than it was.

    Book preview

    Roland West, Loner - Theresa A Linden

    #abook_preview_excerpt.html}ۖF`LU9s^ΌjvWM^cHiH M?G|\m%/qٱ#"s~?>McojtujqsĶ~OSz7j⩯X+\\hG~:eOr]RuϼUݱSMkc!{w3E^޸ʴ侶=sRu[d&2傱O728ݸc/;ܹc'vwdViX/_5<*L2O_J8OT,,hYvO˓d2ld GG,a0'WeFA 'l<8o]7w~ck?ߩNk50y(])mS5DH|=z7Us1-|/]6-20mtU|m7e叡4Co VqQs붲 tp=cj7}H؁T`VvWطuLQTD"Ƕkg8^Eſ/O'?w 홣V9࿾4/^ym2HPFu Al }/(w_eй2]Ez7vqŽSOAW3)f>e}>n!o0Y0u5 4}맓ZN7gYMeqApj^DC#'~¾} M.u 6䝻\A2bA$n&aɮ{,qZٱ:l UP0]VTtS}xi|}8 v%{+sfr9^ZayVVjzSVnщi1д&w)|.D@mV37q?9Vm,/׹c}[ '+8ۤzŚ15;C-ȧۭRWPnͮɒemHq'FAMJ`ذ;b`ep?}Q;Y8MNlĵЭ=Q^|:{Y T 4ɀ)ttTۏ>zD}&g*)+ jkC4gFKrp8PV_d,*͍7tS-jEĖܞ2REkp~clm\$7VȽ#*iw;O WM$ :RnzJ;tx%#ixC$ qF՝DE>$蕫O>yBc/s_ԡtʪ8eB;z8A--xtS}V~n vE_0YB]E:@Wl Xbzc7%f p1ԪV+c(]qLEl^̞?Ӳv29Q\]5bE+妩GXlXrP9v%\юp?o'xx(xthuV3Q[+D' %G=<"~ 63|p2])] X\[d8[2ɾl vKpQ&VD0\Ո8Gx~n U! '*'M6 >oǘ4Bډ_0 L}+'~i B>Ωfl jT$ 1|MIԋWRKQ3L71ʣͭ^uK$hI yo-vڍGNщna3 Ǡ7)}p"U8 ANIHc_~wuNeҷY("quS QSX[K\u".zF̿G-D?68wK( +XnlktAlפTWSdU>_J`+@ ʘ ] VKBQ ͻ&vڎRw8J"|>Ҙ@8Jl cװ 7"g-"},؉7vĻ!w =*Z bBK =qd{8QU:{MP/ؓ 9mKM'{=bsVC-O}6_x4gXq+r[[u(6  f)t4Xcd'#/wՂ/Y*bt$nsWݓA buVaq+؆WfldېHr#Z}@l bQ)(=wwmdk=}Z(`(DlW'J!t]XG0ȀDB_w.umSٿ,``$u2'Nz_L%ˍj Nxΐ& 5)$N_D.C}5| LY,t+X 1mh/#-kPJT>]}/'c1Z+] GjC(ľ>8+^GY}3n ըhVGOoQIf-LR\`7m%b7ʁRt,Lg,jQD+ٶlj6;` 2)&>] (jNd}Udȋ{#6t>DyhPd2bkfN bFPJ9 zz>N$]F<1ITt.jh8#cȦ`iZ">vɑr 4@j1ӷv<.@=@nTv)v`ȚPCno~eexMԑԁyz Ju֑1"SgYnRZ"p&X9$5]aoD"r1yrӊ@|Xq1x<&:i(ه c(HL]'1T~75`eWw#I/S H_ e츕QηQ ʆXQDl"<?Ef*iB{ M^#]|4da258vej4RVehaT 25zߑ)=ЍsdN쏒wKd݁̈́YEYW^^ af.B Wre+d $Lq6# pw"i(b>E!mbEATóx弢x6xCa[MJFIhVQ_&y3ֱ=M%~Z#lE۶2d,ʓ?/X-+..KqF/A#2d_W `#'E:u,VsY FGEP!g.x"dB2 sSaՏR}6tG>Kf,_C1pw42aE-'32Y| W?X^X`aή CeԲiUX%t&| ˏOZQ#^B1-Y=z*5jE.hoFc[Ǫt(伿%9a]U: Yjc`Fu"F,/f4G}Smؙ^.qE|᥽K?Y ,9 N QS &/KHb7F~e5y=BoV>rJ1fa3jXÈ1B+ u86+u"f5ӷQIwOGN?sE.t JĹOCϐ%%ތbzkZB܈M1֚IyHL%phA7eU}lL1BħPƂ`ldN6'c뷑 pM.K⎬Il<\V~]KOJ [ UUf²S\5UCse4-2Tζ % Igʽ;l#Qn$GLMbLKf]f w1ǜjeK[#SvKX\ SL*$ "Dq0S8e51[Od6F(p#ąXȥdldƒOfϡX"ETV95RJv >ȑ="6 s5IYbĵeq7BvW |x rIgXZhX} A;' Ngz+o*?Qy Kԋ?8z-ŜeSJlTpfuLʣ7тY Y Z<ܿ0XjT_ `Z<-0ߞ&uLCG=bҠ) *e 4JmH%{v]}~K./rϤIy r0ry`aaf:_CO QJq݌k* ܂ ]W_Rxu@kmWU%q,#UBf\?] n@&ƛ**6e^=$_RvnEd\Q c]j ?/ZBJ"/S3Ԗ7 2Ut{N -[ \H *hLqa6ØкJ79}X䤕O O&yW5c}0Vb" p@ׄ.4K|m)Y``-g8蟭唗zhxJO ~wc=nIJhx}c4o祃VR,^Oq%^JKL(]\] b"bna\li,d89UXH/M7{s)*IXo((+REwuދIJHIbuvnhu>}- >\)6a߇ M!ɐ5 1hJ4GLHtŖVPkMVuLm7&9WՂk`l8W5>JZ*V&]"Toӕ%rPFC Ɇ}f V,/fYȠhT3栴>"dLyu=1$ʧ İ[Ɯt*I(ܛRgf .bX]< ȰW|r̬"̭HfemK](&RdM-s3`'_1/ w!r8W_@HN S֥[?ׄ8tcP/qc 1" ̽&PK Іx'Ū1Hђ:HQYFyw}dC!~\BN2$aUf"\P~YlpQ@)=|)J75 MϲͪTesO"lUbCo쒴V6 VE\ݬ/!#R%r ZCk^:G*Jb\0Д˘id$PF1T=4aRhߎge2l)Zcc,X6(Jd"BW16- Um-}z]Bjz6fٞ[`hm( TV< K9M;yˀq@Z(|j^ A>Z`Ǐޕo5D0cչ(|<2g,0ERdk"&N$h!!Aʌ%^g׾ɕZÞ!wCZ&iB^?-nF9>M]+iTkfJk;,n$k1'WNI~Ӵz;<$KUYN܂ \0J' pMʵd0ɲڱfGFsJSRY%r#) 08U &[mzi-H@pG| 1`aS0k4 ZM0D3Aq%l(dıId2J80''ɟ%B; ;\=ENڢ>zzY1N=VǜYˆNMn>[^Y1Me,!?S߆_V6{NDTRwh$̮J)C*kV{.̰Б5 y2MhpFa=̒ˊnÐyZ!s_y!"C>Lr ( r@6l IJJSviϊLBUFp8XœlrgCCRNKi)!·Oŗٵ \u*Z3"mV*eW>j&+4Xmy0_ZJB_ qzXi<ϦB 32|#,2Wy]a/:iR*=(Yz\HCVƈ/Y!]"ހ-- 瑜QhBjo'|s-l}$ǏQ(|nuJdlBu9ǥ];b%5." +`S5yc 4`;br;ڡԾ:!$ -u 7XCgze7lo%4ڞeXHN+Q䵨zXGRMube7JnL=[軟Բv 멹Ok5-K%euO35"Kº \Wy{9Rh.1[93LEz_=-d+,ͭ+)ZLؿT=DvU=g!W=Ǭ WgM>]i5/k?ߡx/9<:ǵj-Q!x9\[pA$P;U%nL1*:4΄ߕbu陻Ry "0Lf %S*8ǹ^5?bVV}jn@[.umi/ rP)G˥v)(0am\aJH$[gt O;H 5VVLu+eVQPRΩUxDZ0SPV{u"o|y|\eՊa6IAj$೰zEV-琉I@j VQ5,}_d _N1{SD!5ydUհ{55[ k7F+0d2w6e/*,)9 ة6 5wD<0}Vu K WaA\l`"F/fL6 K'*$WU7+˕U̔]%I>lWb’8e4x^CGpFE;S2\ ,3:ԕE^zM9 R>08}a֧ZÃ2BDZQ A@(MgPoԺV?O KS YwsGײC&e:.*0Á*WHɧ>y +R*!v<|YLȽ[l̏4e$tЩ|-﫢\D A$(mg߆)^׌>3Wy@XnAy&&'DU5(ܽj?-g9 -BL8f'FYo'QT9'>uGf$ 2G.ͣg?]Ia iDX_痓s`³G&qbA]]7R"ʘX=Pvb 8.@XS]V V22_#-WVhC>hFٯ#8fnF iCG䕃8H`4ܯ5Qy@Vֹ[498M4&k#dgvAZv 3 ])\W~b"C,Namtj7ůf)g>S q0-5ĥoмfeڥZ9$nexՆqtUT?5Y9`ĵ}>, ~`jbXh'zw ߎYS1E$c5l;M{W3{5󝻠ܗxҚ直m^z\"?Z.֙ȮgԀ)l ZMOz,|uXMOً,K"'<_ՍVƻBB>OYO9My%-ag0cl?p³{fV7o,Y9zGܕגF Gb?g!J""˴jf v^LEͬ|$C\Xk;qWen4F{21VY# ݗê3u/yff4p֦. ,X mƑWEBf9Js@^+Ui>s8:s4@^K8ȐPyDJ\꺧uPkZI_dxf^L m~~FB7g)FqzWd]\XUO:>Y 7F|GY&l"|^w@y%Xա1fFLy(@/$(R(X: ::3!?h^b;)aViY?-A\is" <Z.{ʮ:*0m$4?z>~)ELI%`?D|IZ/T*Ow #XUh[֙%'2^9-5ÇykȢ&W(z_X~k2YZl'1!C}_XY5Ex'Kr
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1