In an atypical coming of age story, David Atkinson manages to capture the true meaning of how adults transcend from childhood in “Bones Buried in the Dirt.” Through a series of fictional short stories, Atkinson conveys the life of a young boy named Peter. This fictional novel is different in that it never details Peter’s adult life, but gives readers a sense of the person Peter will be.

From meeting girls to fighting with his siblings, readers can relate to many of the stories within the novel. Atkinson notes that the stories focus on the moments in childhood that get buried in the mind but are never fully absorbed. Although many of these moments seem useless to remember, they are a part of us that help to mold the person we become. Without them, we wouldn’t be who we are.

Something I really enjoy about Atkinson’s style of writing in this novel is that each new chapter of memories details very real moments in youth. He evokes struggle, embarrassment, failure and other emotions that could otherwise be ignored. Instead of the usual landmark celebrations of childhood, such as picturesque vacations or memorable birthdays, he conveys the in-between moments that tend to gather dust in the back of our minds. In other words, he doesn’t take the route that some authors do by idealizing these life moments, but rather he portrays the honest cruelty of life.

As a reader, I also enjoyed seeing the tone change from the beginning when Peter was much younger to the end of the novel when Peter is 12 years old. At the start, many of his ideas of situations are told through his thoughts. Towards the end, Peter has matured and his situations are shown as more conversational and descriptive as he further explores life. Many of the characters in his novel are people we can identify with and relate to people in our own lives.

Atkinson is a 2006 Creighton Law alumnus and currently lives in Denver, Colo. where he works as an attorney. In his free time, he enjoys reading and writing and has always had a passion for both. He has also written several published short stories and poems. “Bones Buried in the Dirt” is now available on Amazon, Tattered Cover and The Bookworm in Omaha.