Tom Dunham

What awaited us in shadowy paths when we were ten, or thirty, or now, for those of a “certain” age? And how did we find out, for ourselves? When do passions begin? What did those moments feel like? When did we first watch someone do something magical— nail a jump shot, focus a backyard telescope on Mars, cut and fit a miter joint, maybe send out a lure with a cool flick of the wrist, and we thought, That’s for me. I can do that, too.
If you’re lucky, if you were paying attention, the discoveries of childhood stay with you forever. Especially, when you did it best—watching, listening, taking risks, out on your own, with no one to hold your hand. Ten-year-old Dan spends three days all but alone, a greenhorn from the moment he leaves a dark path for the blinding sunlit waters of a lake, a bag of fresh bought fishing gear in hand. “Okay, I’ll be back,” his grandfather tells him. “’bout two hours.” What follows is a story for all ages—a book best categorized: Fiction>>Family.
Author, Matt Yurdana, writes: “What impresses me the most about Tattoos is the voice, the way the story unfolds easily in the boy's language and perspective so that I was immediately in his world, his situation. For me, Tattoos is about the love and awe of a new and immediate passion--that everyone (as a kid) has experienced. And it does this in such an understated and quiet way, and it takes it's time with the boy's learning and mistakes and small triumphs. I think the heart of the book (and the majority of it) is the lake, and I think that's exactly right; it's where he's challenging his fears, ‘bonding’ with various strangers, problem solving, and seeing the world and his own abilities in a very new light.”