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Andrew C Phillips is a native North Carolinian, who served as an Ensign in the US Navy during the Vietnam War. Upon returning, he began his teaching career in North Carolina as a Kindergarten teacher, ultimately meeting his wife, Judy, with whom he team-taught in Early Childhood classrooms while writing and developing curriculum that utilized original children’s music for helping children learn to read. Together, they developed a seminar: “Singing to Read.” Later, he became an elementary school principal, recognized for creating a model SERVing Young Children School for its innovative, non-graded, multi-age program. Since retirement, he has pursued performing children’s music, writing picture books, middle-grade novels, and an adult novel.
In addition to his experience in the Navy and his years as an early childhood educator, his inspiration, as an author, is drawn from his years growing up in the south during the 50s and 60s, the privilege of being a father to two wonderful daughters, and the pure joy of watching his four young grandchildren delight in life.
At their North Carolina beach house, he delights in his family’s traditional Fourth of July celebrations, including a family water balloon fight, showering in the best outdoor shower on the beach, and relaxing on the screened-in porch, where he dreams, writes, and rewrites stories while breathing in the ocean breezes. His Podcast, The Journey Inside, utilizes original children’s songs, stories, and excerpts from his adult novel to share thoughts and dreams about and for our children.
Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
In the book In Jake's Shoes by Andrew C. Phillips, when Jake Gatlin is killed while serving overseas, his family gathers at their home in Oakton, North Carolina, as winter rain falls and Christmas approaches. During the hours following the funeral, his father, Marshall, slips away to the attic and opens a notebook he has never seen before. Inside are letters Jake wrote throughout his childhood to his grandmother, Mary Claire Gatlin, known as Gammy Gat. As Marshall reads, the letters trace Jake’s private record of school discipline, friendships, loss, family conflict, and the decision to enter military service. The house below is active as Millie and their daughters search for Marshall, uncertain where he has gone. In the quiet attic, the letters reshape Marshall’s understanding of his son and force him to confront years of silence, distance, and missed conversations.
In Jake's Shoes by Andrew C. Phillips takes its title from Marshall slipping into his son’s sneakers, a private gesture of connection that feels so beautiful. Jake's letters are a mix of heartening, such as when we learn that his enlistment was partly a desire to stay with people who feel isolated, and incredibly sad, like a suicide note, where Jake was thanked for his friendship. Honestly, Randy's story had me choked up. Marshall Gatlin is a good vessel for readers to learn about Jake, and we learn about him also. Marshall feels like an authentic person with flaws and emotional distance. Through Jake's letters, he chooses presence over retreat, which speaks volumes. The settings described are textured and atmospheric, from diesel-tainted air and mortar thuds at a base, to cracked winter windows, rain, and a crowded place of grief in the family home. Overall, this is touching literary fiction, elegantly written and worth reading. Recommended.
