I first heard about this book by Gary Schmidt back in April, when Fuse so eloquently raved about it. I thought that it sounded good, but since it wasn’t due out for a couple months, I forgot about it. Then Becky chimed in with her praise in July, and reminded me that I really ought to pick it up. It wasn’t until a month or so ago, when I was checking my Amazon wish list against the library catalog and I discovered that they finally had it, that I picked it up. Then it languished on my bedside table for weeks until I realized that the due date was imminent. So, I finally picked it up.

And I immediately kicked myself for waiting so long.

I used description “perfect book” for Elijah of Buxton, but I have to say that it fits here, as well, though not for the same reasons. It’s a perfect book. Funny, poignant, touching, interesting…I couldn’t imagine getting to know Holling Hoodhood (great name!) any other way. It’s 1967, and in the town of Camillo, Long Island, Wednesday afternoons are for religious instruction — either Hebrew School or Catechism. And in Holling’s class everyone is off to one or the other. Except him. And so, on the first day of school, he’s convinced his teacher — Mrs. Baker — hates him. (Well, who wouldn’t, if they had to stay behind for one kid?) As a result, she puts him to work. First, doing chores. Then, when that has somewhat disastrous (and hilarious) results, she turns to Shakespeare. Over the course of the year — and the book — Holling reads several of Shakespeare’s plays, which not only affect his school life, but also his outside-of-school life.

There is no “best part” of this book. I loved it all. I found it laugh-out-loud funny (and my laughs are hard-earned; I don’t usually laugh when reading!); I loved Holling as a narrator, and as a person. The not-so-funny parts (it is 1967, after all, and the Vietnam War does play a prominent part in the book) were genuine and touching. And the end was well-earned and fitting. It’s an all around good book.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite parts. Holling’s convinced that Mrs. Baker’s hired Doug Swieteck’s brother to kill him during a soccer game. The brother (we never do learn his name, one of the many charms of the book) was coming right at Holling, determined to plow into him, and Holling, at that minute, sidesteps (except for his right foot) and trips up Doug Swieteck’s brother.

Then there came an iron thunk against the goal post, which bent at a sudden angle around Dough Swieteck’s brother’s head.
And everything was quiet.
I opened my eyes again.
Doug Swieteck’s brother was standing and sort of wobbling. Mrs. Sidman was running over — though, properly speaking, what she did wasn’t really running. It was more a panicky shuffle. She probably saw “Negligent Playground Monitor” headlines in her future. When she got to him, Dough Swieteck’s brother was still wobbling, and he looked at her with his eyes kind of crossed. “Are you all right?” Mrs. Sidman asked, and held on to his arm.
He nodded once, then threw up on her.
He had eaten a liverwurst-and-egg sandwich for lunch. No one ever wants to see a liverwurst-and-egg sandwich twice.