Sam Hill was born with bright red eyes (ocular albinism) and got his name when Mr. Hill walked into the hospital room and yelled, “What the sam hell is wrong with his eyes?”
The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell by Robert Dugoni follows Sam from birth through years of school bullying until he reaches a stage of somewhat normalcy thanks to two special friends who also stand out (one for being the only black kid in a Catholic school and one for being a troublemaker with a good heart). He becomes an eye doctor on the mission field, worldwide, helping children with special vision needs. Ultimately, when he returns home, he is able to undo some damage from the past and bring some healing to places it was needed.
This story surprised me in so many ways. First, a very thoughtful approach to faith since a huge portion of the story revolves around his mother’s steadfast Catholic religion and the religious schools he attends. So refreshing to read a story where people are people — three dimensional with good qualities and mistakes and irritating habits and redeeming moments. The story’s heavy faith component is important because Sam is able to see only with maturity that his mother’s trite sayings are deeply meaningful to her, and even get a sense for himself that his faith is still relevant to his everyday life. There’s a great revelation that faith is more than attending church or going to confession or doing a rosary, and that his mother’s desire to do those things isn’t really what embodies her faith. It might be all he can see, but he learns that she is greatly empowered by her beliefs.
I related strongly to Sam’s mom’s desire to protect her son from bullying but also to his father’s desire for his son to live a normal life. The friends he makes are believable even if the bully is not. (The bully is just a bully, because his father before him was a bully, and that’s really all you get.) I didn’t even start shipping him with the romance interest until partway into the book which I think is somewhat remarkable. You find yourself learning along with Sam how people relate to him authentically or inauthentically based on his ‘condition’ as his mother calls it.
Disclaimer: This book contains two sexual scenes. They aren’t long, but I always want to warn you when I’m reviewing books.
