Preacher's Boy

it's 1899 In A Small Town In Vermont, And The Turn Of The Century Is Coming Fast. According To Certain Members Of The Church Where Robbie's Father Is The Preacher, The Turn Of The Century Might Even Mean The Of The World. But Robbie Has More Pressing Worries. He's Sure His Father Loves His Simple-minded Brother, Elliot, Better Than Him, And He Can No Longer Endure The Tiresome Restrictions Of Christianity. He Decides To Leave The Fold And Become An "apeist" And, Just In Case The Church Whisperers Are Right, Resolves To Live Life To The Fullest. His High-spirited And Often Hot-headed Behavior Does Nothing To Improve His Father's Opinion Of Him, Nor Does It Improve The Congregation'.s Flagging Opinion Of His Father. Not Until The Consequences Of His Actions Hurt Others Does Robbie Put A Stop To The Snowballing Chain Of Events He Has Set Off And Begin To Realize His Father Might Love Him Despite His Wayward Tendencies.

horn Book

(intermediate)
Katherine Paterson Borrows Mark Twain's Voice And A Healthy Bit Of His Wit To Relate The Adventures Of Robbie Hewitt, Whose Favorite Literary Characters Are, Not Surprisingly, Tom Sawyer And Huck Finn. Robbie's Penchant For Mischief Is A Worrisome Embarrassment To His Father, The Congregational Minister Of Their Small Vermont Town At The Turn Of The Last Century, While Robbie Himself Chafes At The Town's Unrealistic Expectation That As A Preacher's Son He Is Supposed To Be Clean All The Time, Not Just On Sundays And Good. I Don't Have A Talent For Either, He Maintains, Nor Wish To. Although He Craves The Attention His Father Gives To His Mentally Retarded Older Brother And Envies The Closeness That Exists Between His Mother And His Two Sisters, He Can't Resist His More Devilish Impulses-like Running Mabel Cramm's Bloomers Up The Flagpole On Decoration Day, Or Tipping A Spider Down The Back Of Mrs. Weston's Dress At Church. But When He Almost Drowns Another Boy In A Murderous Rage, He Shocks Not Only His Loyal Friend, Will, But Also Himself. In A Narrative That Shuttles Skillfully Between Sentiment And Farce, That Combines Moments Of Painful Insight With Uproarious Action, Robbie Runs Away To Hide From The Consequences Of His Temper And Comes Across A Pair Of Vagrants In The Woods. His Interactions With The Resourceful Violet And Her Drunken Lout Of A Father Lead Robbie To Initiate And Then Abandon A Phony Kidnapping Scheme, Contribute To His First Thrilling Ride In A Motor Car, And Bring About, Eventually, Retribution For His Sins And Rapprochement With His Father. In A Sly Reminder That The Past Is Prologue, Katherine Paterson Ends This Absorbing Historical Fiction Novel With Robbie And The Reverend Hewitt Pulling The Rope On The Church Bell And Ringing In The New Century Together. A More Rounded And Complex Character Than Jip, Whose Story Takes Place In Much The Same Locale Only A Few Decades Earlier, Robbie Hewitt Emerges As One Of Katherine Paterson's Most Engaging Characters. N.v.