cover image The King Boy

The King Boy

Judy Carole Rhodes. Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, $14.95 (168pp) ISBN 978-0-02-776115-3

Benjy King isn't sure why his grandfather is so unpopular with everyone in town. Grandpa says it is because people are jealous of his wealth. Others, including Benjy's parents, hint that there are other reasons. The only thing Benjy knows for sure is that he loves spending time fishing and talking with his grandfather, who lives nearby. Spanning eight years, this leisurely novel traces Benjy's ups and downs as he attempts to find out the truth about Grandpa King's past. The rural setting and unsentimentalized portrayal of life and death gives the story the same earthy quality evoked in Lilies of the Field and The Day No Pigs Would Die. Some isolated events prove meaningful, but Benjy's coming of age is awkwardly presented; evidence of his maturation occurs rather suddenly when, in the end, family secrets are revealed. Ages 10-14. (Sept.)