"Three Weeks with My Brother" by Nicholas and Micah Sparks

A Book Review

The book jacket caught my eye: blue sky with strip of white cumulus clouds, the silhouettes of two bicycle riders pedaling across the horizon. The view might be looking up from a hill or across a dark, grassy meadow. The title, "Three Weeks with My Brother" sits below the bikers and is located on that grassy expanse. Below that are the authors names, Nicholas Sparks and Micah Sparks is in larger print. "A Memoir" in tiny letters is printed just below the clouds. My impression was the bike riders were two boys and, being a memoir, one of the two must have met with a tragic end. I was wrong.

It is amazing how many thoughts can go through one's mind as the hand reaches for the book on the shelf to pick it up and read the blurb on the inside sleeve to find out what the book is about. I also thought one of the authors must be famous and I had no idea who he was. I was right about that one. Nicholas Sparks was offered a million dollars for his third novel and the only one he submitted to publishers for possible publication. A writers fairy tale dream come true. "The Notebook" quickly became a movie as the author's next book: "Message in a Bottle". As I read, "Three Weeks with My Brother", I vaguely recall reading about the author and his book, "The Rescue".

"Three Weeks with My Brother" chronicles the Sparks brother's whirlwind 3 week trip around the world. The book starts with a lesson learned in childhood and those first 4 chapters of the book introduce the brothers as children and the adults they become. The idea for the sudden crash tour of the world was Nicholas', the unadventurous one. His initial excitement gives way to anxiety and doubts about taking the trip. "The Rescue" is true fiction about a father dealing with a toddler that does not talk. Nicholas is ambivalent about leaving his wife, Cathy, home alone for three weeks to care for 5 children. One son may or may not be autistic or have CAPD.