![]() Joey has been abandoned by his alcoholic father and, for a time, by his mother (who also drinks) his grandmother, just as hyperactive as he is, abuses Joey while he's in her care. Gantos's straightforward view of what it's like to be Joey is so honest it hurts. In the first-person narration, it quickly becomes clear that he can't help himself he's so wound up that he not only practically bounces off walls, he literally swallows his house key (which he wears on a string around his neck and which he pull back up, complete with souvenirs of the food he just ate). If Rotten Ralph were a boy instead of a cat, he might be Joey, the hyperactive hero of Gantos's new book, except that Joey is never bad on purpose. The first-person narration is infused with rich, colorful language-“She was skinnier than a toothpick with termites”-and Mary Alice’s shrewd, prickly observations: “Anybody who thinks small towns are friendlier than big cities lives in a big city.” The arena may be a small hick town, but the battle for domination over that tiny turf is fierce, and Grandma Dowdel is a canny player for whom losing isn’t an option. And the vignettes, some involving a persnickety Grandma acting nasty while accomplishing a kindness, others in which she deflates an overblown ego or deals with a petty rivalry, are original and wildly funny. This winning sequel takes place several years after A Long Way From Chicago (1998) leaves off, once again introducing the reader to Mary Alice, now 15, and her Grandma Dowdel, an indomitable, idiosyncratic woman who despite her hard-as-nails exterior is able to see her granddaughter with “eyes in the back of her heart.” Peck’s slice-of-life novel doesn’t have much in the way of a sustained plot it could almost be a series of short stories strung together, but the narrative never flags, and the book, populated with distinctive, soulful characters who run the gamut from crazy to conventional, holds the reader’s interest throughout. Set in 1937 during the so-called “Roosevelt recession,” tight times compel Mary Alice, a Chicago girl, to move in with her grandmother, who lives in a tiny Illinois town so behind the times that it doesn’t “even have a picture show.” The prose shows the ease and confidence of an old pro, and gives off the power of someone who understands well the human heart. The story of the goose, which Will ultimately nurses back to health, resonates emotionally with his grandfather's illness and death, and with the rending and healing of his family. Wright Campbell's Where Pigeons Go to Die (1978). In her first novel, Cummings adds a ruthlessly realistic look at a family under pressure to a structure and theme reminiscent of R. But this is less a tale of unmitigated woe than a beautifully told, uplifting story about the power and strength of family. Then Grampa has a heart attack, and Will's father disappears. Work is still scarce, money even scarcer Will's parents fight constantly, and his father's anger and bitterness makes home a place to avoid. ![]() After Will's father loses his job as a longshoreman in Baltimore, the family loses its home as well, and moves in with Will's grandfather on his farm in Pennsylvania. Nora, a serious student, worries about the disadvantages of repeatedly transferring schools.A lyrical tale of a family pushed to the edge: In separate stories that eventually converge, a young Canada goose is wounded by a young boy, Will, who is trying to cope with the disintegration of his family. For example, Digger’s friend Nora and her mother live at a campground because her mother’s relationship troubles keep them on the move and financially strapped. It’s heartrending at times to observe how parents’ poor choices affect their children. Priscilla Cummings frankly portrays people living on the margin.His new friendships and sense of responsibility to Luke, a young boy whom he helps, are touching and reveal his growing maturity. Digger is a complex character, who is increasingly easy to sympathize with over the course of his ultimately redemptive journey.Background information on the mid-Atlantic region is smoothly woven into the narrative and further enhances the novel’s strong sense of place.Digger faces dangerous situations, such as canoeing down the Potomac River and encountering dams, while trying to evade the authorities.
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