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nancy@nancykeane.com
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Paterson,
Katherine
PREACHER'S BOY
New York : Clarion Books,
1999.
IL 5-8, RL 5.6
ISBN 0395838975
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| It's
not easy being the son of the local minister. Mischievous and lively, redheaded
Robbie Hewitt feels constrained. Set in turn-of-the-century Vermont, the
small town where Robbie lives is VERY Republican and steeped in family
values. In the summer of 1899 when people are predicting the end of an
age, maybe the end of the world, Robbie finds it difficult to please his
father and God. Robbie decides to become "a heathen, a Unitarian, or a
Democrat which ever was the most fun," because he "ain't got the knack
fir holiness." After yet another incident where his intentions are misinterpreted,
he runs away. Maybe, he reasons, once he is gone, everyone would feel sorry
for him and realize what a good fellow he was. Then he meets up with Violet
and her drunken father. To help Violet, he hatches a scheme worthy
of Tom Sawyer, and learns a lot about himself. Will his father finally
appreciate him? Can he finally feel good about his own life and choices?
While the story touches on larger moral issues, there is a lot of good,
old-fashioned fun. (Jeannie Bellavance bellavance@erols.com
for Pennsylvania
Young Reader's Choice Awards) |
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SUBJECTS:
Family life -- Vermont -- Fiction.
Fathers and sons -- Fiction.
Christian life -- Fiction.
Vermont -- Fiction. |
© 
Permission is granted for the
noncommercial duplication and use of this resource, provided it is substantially
unchanged from its present form and appropriate credit is given.
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