silentreader3

I've enjoyed this story over the past few years. Thank you for continuing it. Your characters have "hooked" me and I find myself wanting to learn more about them and about what is happening to them.

I first read Do Over many years ago - back in maybe 2012 or 2013, I think. It is one of my all-time favorite online novels. I don't want to say why because I do not want to spoil the surprises to come for those who are reading it for the first time now. One of my favorite plays is Thornton Wilder's "Our Town". In Our Town, a character gets to go back and observe only the events of a day in her childhood. It is so painful for that character to see herself as a child and how she didn't really appreciate life then. In Our Town the character could only observe. In Do Over, Davey has the chance to change his life... For me, this is a powerful novel worth reading again.

Thank you for sharing the news. I had written to him to thank him for his stories a few years ago. Now I'm especially thankful I did that before he passed away. (I found his obituary, too, and I agree with your comment above.) "Beloved" and "Working It Out" are two comfort novels for me. Perhaps that sounds so lazy of me, but I think I've read each one maybe three times over the past ten years. If I'm feeling particularly crappy, re-reading one of Don Hanratty's novels is soothing. From his note at the end of chapter 69 we know the wedding he planned for chapter 70. I'm curious to know what he would have said about his other character's lives in chapter 70.

Is a neko a cat-like creature?

You are correct, and shame on me for not proofreading more carefully! I was searching for places mentioned in your story, so I could read more about them. The search feature in Wikipedia appears to have incorrectly auto-corrected the spelling, to change it from a real island off the coast of Australia to an imaginary island farther away. But I shouldn't blame auto-correct when I was the one who should have checked the spelling!

Thank you for sharing your work. I've enjoyed following the boys' adventures and learning more about what is to me a faraway land. I'm also quite impressed with Uncle James's navigational ability! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dougherty_Island

Oh ! :( Well, to be honest, it felt like that was the natural conclusion of the story. Then again, I'd enjoy reading more, even if it means being patient for a year! Thank you for sharing your work with us all.

Thank you! What a happy story to read. I notice that it is marked "in progress". Will there be more chapters to come? (No pun intended.)

Today Chapter 7 was posted. I'm going back to the beginning to re-read the chapters to be sure I have the details fresh in my mind. I remember really enjoying this the first time around - now I can confirm that it's great the second time, many months later, too. What fascinating conflict and feelings and situations - really draws me in to the story. Thank you, JayT!

Thank you for continuing this story. It is one of my favorites, I think maybe because the characters seem so real to me.

Wow! I guess I shouldn't have been surprised - but i am! I'm eagerly awaiting your next chapter.

Well, that's a good point. Then again, If (the original) Moses could do it, couldn't Robbie?

Oh my. I've been eagerly reading each chapter. For a while I would click on like for each chapter, but then I got lazy and stopped signing in. Oh my. Well, with the school program being named The Cockney Canuck, you could end the story with Robbie dying in the next chapter and the school show being in his memory.... I hope you won't do that, but you have me worried. Your story has held my interest all along. Thank you for sharing it.

Thank you! I truly laughed out loud while reading this chapter.

I realize different people like different sorts of stories and different plots. ("Different strokes for different folks," right?) I can enjoy a story even if I don't think the actions of one the characters are the wisest moves the character could make. Making mistakes and (one hopes) learning from their mistakes is how teenagers often operate in the real world. If Robbie's path in chapter 15 is indeed a mistake for him, I imagine that Dodger will have some consequences for him, and perhaps Robbie will learn from them - one hopes in sooner than 50 years. I'm really enjoying The Cockney Canuck. I'm looking forward to the next chapter.