Thirteen Miles from Suncrest

Davis's (Listening for the Crack of Dawn) North Carolina homeland forms the setting for his fiction debut-the quaint though occasionally prosaic diary of Medford McGee. By turns warm, funny and bittersweet, the 10-year-old's chronicle of backwoods farm life begins with his January 1910 birthday and concludes with the dire events of May 1913 (a brief epilogue is set in 1993). During these years, the boy's only window to the outside world is the Sunday Nashville Banner, mailed faithfully by Aunt Louise. In its pages Medford marvels at the wonders of automobiles, airplanes and motion pictures while puzzling over such weightier matters as politics and income tax. Though Davis relies too heavily on ungrammatical composition and incorrect spelling to create a homespun flavor, and period minutiae become a bit repetitious, he presents a fascinating week-by-week history of pre-WWI America-and holds up a telling mirror to the foibles of contemporary life. This era of simple delights (children thrilling to a Christmas gift of one penny for each year of their lives) is vividly contrasted with such sobering realities as the specter of whooping cough. The novel's themes-hardship and tragedy set against the strength and beauty of family love-prove affecting and timeless. (Sept.)