#1 Bestseller (Southern Indepedent Booksellers Bestseller list)
“This is a must-read for anyone who enjoys a great story…destined to become a classic.”—Good Reads
“A lovely book…As sensual and nostalgic as it is structured by well-pared prose…Eli’s world is the reader’s own.”—Courier-Journal
“Truly remarkable…the characters in Eli the Good come alive, and one cannot help but feel emotionally connected to the people and events in this story. Though set specifically in the aftermath of the Vietnam War, its lessons of friendship, hope, and love are timeless. Moreover, these lessons are keenly relevant to today’s young adults who are struggling to learn these things in a world and in families that continue to be affected by war and its consequences.”—Foreword Magazine
“An important story about war’s hold on soldiers and their families. Readers will want to keep an eye out for future works by this talented writer.”–Kirkus Reviews
“There’s subtle poetry at work in House’s writing, and as the tension and summer months heat up, Eli comes to understand how love and forgiveness can overcome even the most deep-seated conflicts.”–Publisher’s Weekly
“Cannily distills a child’s experience of an endless summer. Its slow burn belies the drama that only periodically, but powerfully, cracks the surface. An intelligent, nostalgic challenge to those who insist teen readers won’t read about kids younger than them.”–Booklist
“Lyrical, real, tender and particularly enchanting… themes of nature and war, family and love, loneliness and longing, fill the pages with a quiet wonder.”–My Three Books
“Today’s young readers, coming of age in a post-9/11 world, should be deeply familiar with a central question of our times: what does it mean to be patriotic, to love-and protect, or protest-one’s country? It’s one question, among others, that they’ll find tenderly explored in Silas House’s first young-adult novel, Eli the Good.”–Chapter 16
“As he rides his bike to a communal swimming hole, dances with his mother in the kitchen and reads The Diary of Anne Frank, he becomes the embodiment of a nostalgic dream; he is also the best of what America once was, and hopefully, can be again.”–Smoky Mountain News
“The words drip off the page and you want to lap them up, savoring every last drop and flavor. He has successfully written a compelling story that will not only capture the hearts of the intended young adult audience, but will hold an equal place in the hearts of adults.”–Bobbi’s Book Nook Blog
Feature in The Knoxville News-Sentinel
