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"Jake and the Hobo: My Summer of Love" is a coming-of-age novel about the journey of a 16-year-old girl, Jake Meadows. Fleeing her impoverished coal mining town in West Virginia, she meets Erasmus P. Hobbs, a gentle and wise veteran, and his dog Socrates. Erasmus, a good Samaritan, hobo philosopher, jack of all trades, recovering alcoholic, and Vietnam veteran with Agent Orange disease, travels the USA with his black and white cocker spaniel Socrates. Their chariot is a yellow Airstream RV called Emma Goldman, with a picture of the famous revolutionary dancing on the side and her quote, "If I can't dance, I don't want to be part of your revolution.". The book is a poignant exploration of forgiveness, transformation, and the celebration of courage as Jake and Erasmus embark on self-discovery and healing.
Adventures, tenderness, and surprises abound in this fast-paced novel. Their odyssey takes them through Cleveland and down to a Buddhist retreat called Dignity Village. They meet the Zen master, Roshi Konji, a Vietnam veteran, a Green Beret captain, a recovering alcoholic, and the leader of Dignity Village. Jake meets Sojourner, an herbalist and healer, who becomes her godmother. As they travel down to New Orleans to a homeless shelter, they encounter hobos, wanderers, refugees, and the heroes and angels who help people of all kinds. Jake is a survivor traumatized by her childhood who grows through the story in her journey to forgiveness, both for the family who raised her and for herself.
"For three months, we wandered across America...helped at homeless shelters, met fellow hobos, saints, and revolutionaries, cleaned up parks, planted gardens, and met the woman who became my Fairy Godmother, the herbalist and healer Sojourner. I learned how to cook, read, write, and tune up Erasmus's Airstream palace called Emma Goldman. In that summer of love, I learned so many things every day. I will tell you more about my extraordinary summer, but before I get too far ahead of myself...most importantly, I learned something I never thought possible. The hardest lesson was to love myself unconditionally. It has been twenty years since I last saw the man who changed my life and probably everybody else who met him. My name is Jake, and this is the story of my summer of love with the extraordinary Erasmus P. Hobbs-my beautiful hobo saint who came dancing into my life on a cloud of possibilities."
