Forever and a Day Paperback – 27 Aug 2010

Tommy Tran is a young Vietnamese lad born in New York City who decided in the 6th grade that he would write a novel by his senior year in highschool. And FOREVER AND A DAY is the result. First a few observations about the rush to publish: 1) Tran elected to use the self-publish avenue to meet his time goal and that is not a flaw in judgment, but it is a chance that without an editor to proofread the book the risks of grammatical errors, typos, misspelled words, phrases that need guidance resulted in a book that deserves a better introduction - perhaps not to the public at large, but at least to publishing houses that may have been interested in Tran's talent were it not so marred in execution; 2) the book is indicated as one for reading level ages 9 -12 - an unfair barrier in that the novel is an adult quality book and not one to be classified as solely for pre-teen audiences; 3) allowing more space and time for character development would have made the story feel more polished and finished.Now, for the author and the story. Tommy Tran is a real surprise! It is unusual for one so young to be so well developed in the arena of writing a novel - he understands the arc of writing, he presents main characters that are visually sound as well as internally developed, he understands the balance of comedy in drama, and most importantly he knows how to tell a story! Playing on his own heritage he has created a Vietnamese boy, slight of stature, raised only by his father after his mother deserted her family, insecure about his physical and social skills until he introduces characters who can influence his growth - a wrestling Coach, an athletic friend, exercise and body building to change his appearance, and a girl who makes him long to be able to use the word 'love' in the special and meaningful way his mother had taught him to believe. Tran's alter ego 'Lee' gains from friends and those who are kind, learns about the vagaries of 'love' and the cruel racial prejudices that abound in the school setting, about death, about suffering for beliefs, about courage, and about the foibles of youth. Tommy Tran takes his 'Lee' through a highschool experience that is challenging physically and emotionally and yet by the end of the novel he has grown into a man who can make the most difficult of decisions: without love we are nothing.'Lee' is no new Holden Caulfield, Stephen Dedalus, Huck Finn, or Jonathan ('Everything is Illuminated'). But 'Lee' is a fine fictional creation whose journey to manhood will make an indelible mark on any reader. Only a true writer can accomplish this with so few pages and so compressed a novella. But Tommy Tran has made it work, and the promise of a fine new talent is abundantly clear. He is a talent to watch. Grady Harp, September 10

Forever and a Day is the story of the heartbreak and heartache we all feel when our first love doesn't work out the way we hope. It makes the reader clearly feel the discrimination and challenges faced by the protagonist, Lee, and the lessons in love ultimately learned by Lee and his girlfriend/friend, Autumn. Although there are a few typos and word usage errors, this is an engaging first book with a solid plot, good character development, and interesting dialog. In fact, the book took me back to my own high school years and made me remember some of the hard lessons I learned about male-female relationships. What makes this book especially memorable, though, is the ending. Do yourself a favor and read it today! I'm looking forward to reading more of Tommy Tran's books. Tommy, keep writing!

Tommy Tran's book, "Forever and a Day" captures the heart of everyone who reads it. I have recommended it to over a hundred people and would continue to recommend it to anyone who has been in love or dreamed of falling in love. Tommy Tran wrote this book coming from the view point of a down to earth, genuine boy who is struggling to find his place in the world. The reader travels through the boy's life and becomes attached to his character as he grows, matures and discovers the meaning of true love.It is totally a must read!

When Lee, a Vietnamese sixth grade student, falls in the cafeteria and drops his lunch, a beautiful green-eyed girl named Autumn helps him up when everyone else is laughing. Neither know that they will eventually change each others' lives forever. Lee is a geek, a smart skinny boy who gets bullied a lot by a meat head named Jay.Jay lives on the "troubled side" of town and failed the 3rd grade three times. Lee soon finds out that Autumn isn't the only person that is about to make sixth grade seem just a tad bit better. Ryan, the sixth grade star athlete, comes to Lee's aid, saving him from Jay's fist and ultimately directing Lee's life down a new path.Ryan and Lee become good friends. Ryan encourages Lee to try out for track, and Lee's father thinks he should go out for wrestling. With Ryan's encouragement and friendship, Lee begins working out and building confidence. And then there's Autumn. She and Lee swear to be best friends forever, no matter what happens, but their young hearts yearn for more by the time they get to high school.While in sixth grade himself, Tommy Tran made it a goal to write his first novel by the time he was a senior in high school. Tommy now attends high school in Virginia, and Forever and a Day is his first book. And what a first book it is! I was very impressed by the various subject matter that Tran tackles in such a short book. Not only does the book focus on teen love, high school, sports, self confidence, and bullying, but Tran also touches on parental separation, sex before marriage, cancer, religion, and racism.While there are a myriad of topics here, making this book very appealing to its intended audience, don't assume it's too much for a book whose body of text is only around 110 pages. Tran's story is organized nicely and does not stray too far from his central theme. While Lee deals with the everyday battle of acceptance amongst his peers, we see that strong male bonds and positive role models, like Ryan and his wrestling coach, can ultimately change a teen's life forever. Tran reiterates this when we see Lee come in last in all of his track meets, but he ultimately excels at wrestling and becomes head of the team, learning "life lessons on and off the mat."Then, there's the subject matter of teen love, which is also handled in a very positive and healthy light. Lee and Autumn are good friends and enjoy hanging out together, but a kiss soon changes that. I assumed their relationship, and eventually break up, would be the central overall theme of this book, but Tran pushes the limits of his characters far beyond that - and I think other readers will be shocked to see just where Lee and Autumn's relationship takes them.One small part of the story that resounded with me was a flash back scene of the first time Lee went to church with his mother and father. "We don't like your kind in here," is what they are greeted with at the door, but Lee's father teaches him to be above that."As I got older my dad told me, you have to "out love" people like that. People are so ignorant, so blind, that they can not see the contradiction of their actions. Still I never forgot those people and that church. Those cold glares. The disrespectful gestures. The way their body language spoke. They loathed us. They judged us. But they didn't know us. How sad that those people call themselves Christians."Love is the theme here, and not just between a teenage boy and girl. Tran shows his reader the boundaries that exist around our hearts because we refuse to step outside them, and what happens when we learn to love unconditionally - with a broken heart or not. After the episode at church, Lee says this early on in the book:"Love. If it's out there, I don't think it's for me. If it does exist, I think it's self sacrifice. Life the way my dad works. He works every night he can, trying to make as much money as he can, to support us. To summer me and him. I think that's the closest thing to love there is. The ability to sacrifice ones time and life, to help another. The ability to look past ones self, in order to help another. Basically, you have to be selfless to love. And honestly, there's no one in the world that's selfless. Right?"Lee, and the reader, soon learn that he's right.With a little bit of attention to editing and grammar, there's a lot of potential here, but looking past even that, I was very impressed with Mr. Tran's first book. It is definitely something to be proud of, and there are life lessons here that make this an appealing read for teens of all ages. Tommy, you rock!

I have to admit that I read the book before it was published. I was the copy secretary at Tommy Tran's high school and made copies (duh) for him several times while he was writing it. I finally asked him if he'd let me read it. He was a little hesitant as he didn't want many people to know about it, but I swore secrecy and took the manuscript home with me.I didn't start reading it till midnight; what if I didn't like it? How would I tell Tommy? He's such a nice young man, and he's so dedicated to writing, that I didn't want to tell him that. I ended up staying up till 3 to finish it, and I loved it. I was entranced. I couldn't get it out of my head. I had so many questions for him the next day.The day the book arrived in the mail, I was reading another book that I wanted to finish before I started Forever and a Day. Again, around midnight, I finished reading that book, and I couldn't go to sleep, so I read Forever and a Day in one sitting. Again I loved it. It's such a sweet story; it's refreshing to read about a young couple who *doesn't* spend their time having sex. The tenderness between Lee and Autumn is so well-written.Having this published at the beginning of this school year makes me a little sorry that I retired in June and can't witness the excitement that must fill the school. I know his teachers must be so proud of him!There are errors in punctuation that a good proofreader would be able to catch and fix, but knowing that Tommy is a teenager and has lots of writing to do kind of mitigates that. Hey, Tommy, I volunteer to proofread your next novel! Free! Just send me an autographed copy and we'll be square!!!P.S. I cried both times I read Forever and a Day. I usually try to avoid that, but this book is so worth the puffy eyes the next morning!