Belle Prater's Boy

Starred review from March 25, 1996
Returning to the early `50s, western Virginia setting of Sweet Creek Holler and Weeping Willow, White serves up a novel so fresh that readers can practically smell the lilacs and the blossoming fruit trees. Gypsy, the 12-year-old narrator, is all excited when her cousin Woodrow moves in with their grandparents next door-Woodrow's mother, married to a coal miner in a remote holler, has disappeared without a trace, and Gypsy hopes that Woodrow will divulge some new clues. Instead, she gets a best friend, someone who, in spite of unwelcome attention for having crossed eyes and being "Belle Prater's boy," charms everyone in school with his good-natured if mischievous wit. Gypsy cannot understand Woodrow's self-possession in the wake of his mother's desertion, but Woodrow, on the other hand, understands Gypsy's pain at her father's long-ago suicide better than Gypsy does. Pitching her narrative in a genial, mountain-folks twang, White creates vivacious, memorable characters whose openheartedness should not be mistaken for naivete. She gives her protagonists the courage to face tragedy and transcend it-and the ability to pass along that gift to the reader. Ages 12-up.

Starred review from April 1, 1996
Gr 6-9-Belle Prater becomes the stuff of local legend in Coal Station, Virginia, when she disappears, leaving everyone mystified. Because his father drinks, Belle's boy, cross-eyed Woodrow, comes to live with his grandparents on the finest residential street in town; and 12-year-old Gypsy, his cousin who lives next door and narrates the story, is glad to get to know him. Like everyone else, she is curious about his mother; but Woodrow will only tell her a fantastic story about a magical place. Nevertheless, the girl comes to admire her cousin for the way he uses his superior intelligence and pleasant personality to adapt to a more affluent life, fend off rude questions about his mother, and handle the local bully. Gypsy seems to lead an idyllic life, but when a schoolmate puts a face on her recurring nightmare, she collapses in the rush of long-repressed sorrow. White paints a vivid picture of small town Appalachia in the 1950s, from the ostracism of a blind "sin eater" to the preening of social "wannabes." Characterization is superb. Gypsy's evolving understanding of her late father's values and her stepfather's virtues is especially well done. White's message-that there is no protection for any of us from pain, only a variety of ways to handle it-is delivered with just right dollops of humor and love. What's important, as Gypsy's grandmother puts it, is to let our true selves shine. A delightful read by a real truth teller.-Cindy Darling Codell, Clark Middle School, Winchester, KY

April 15, 1996
Gr. 5^-9. When her poor, cross-eyed, hill country cousin, Woodrow, comes to live next door, Gypsy thinks she'll get on the inside track of a family mystery, the disappearance of Woodrow's mother. Gypsy soon learns, however, that Woodrow isn't talking, so she begins concentrating, instead, on his thoughtful nature, puckish charm, and talent for telling grand stories. It's only during odd moments that Gypsy catches a glimpse of Woodrow's real sadness, but to push him to talk about his mother before he's ready might mean Gypsy would have to face up to a painful secret of her own. Several themes neatly dovetail in this unpretentious, moving story set in Appalachia in the 1950s. Humor and insight infuse a solid picture of small-town life as two strongly depicted young characters uncover an important truth some grown-ups never learn. ((Reviewed April 15, 1996))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1996, American Library Association.)