I just finished up an excellent book, Paperboy
I listened to it as an audio book but I am sure it would make a great read too. Like several of the books I have read of late, this is classified as juvenile fiction. Please don’t let that scare you off as the book is WONDERFUL.
If you liked, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Help or The King’s Speech, you are bound to like this as well. It’s a story of a boy’s effort to overcome a stuttering problem. It’s a story of civil rights in the south. It’s a story of coming of age….a great mix for a great story.
The book is great for any book club as there are many points and ideas that could be discussed.
Here is what Amazon had to say, “An 11-year-old boy living in Memphis in 1959 throws the meanest fastball in town, but talking is a whole different ball game. He can barely say a word without stuttering, not even his own name. So when he takes over his best friend’s paper route for the month of July, he knows he’ll be forced to communicate with the different customers, including a housewife who drinks too much and a retired merchant marine who seems to know just about everything.
The paper route poses challenges, but it’s a run-in with the neighborhood junkman, a bully and thief, that stirs up real trouble–and puts the boy’s life, as well as that of his family’s devoted housekeeper, in danger.”
The book has a nice opening catch about the boy’s yellow handled knife and the book just keeps on luring a reader in.
I was a mom that read to my kids even as they got older and this is a great book to read for yourself and your kids. Amazon readers give it 4.5 stars. I totally disagree. This was a 5 star book all the way.