Skeeter - Softcover

Smith, Kay Jordan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0395616212 ISBN 13: 9780395616215

Publisher: Clarion Books, 1992

Synopsis

Two boys learn about hunting and themselves when they befriend an elderly black woodsman.

About this title

About the Author:

Kay Jordan Smith is a contributor for Houghton Mifflin Company titles including: "Skeeter".

From School Library Journal:

Grade 7 Up-- That good intentions are more often admirable than attainable is demonstrated by Smith in her first novel, Skeeter. Her intention--to write about the education in compassion and racial understanding of two white teenage boys in rural Tennessee--is eminently admirable but, since her ability does not match the ambition of her intention, ultimately unattainable. This is not the fault of her fictional "teacher," the elderly black man, Skeeter, who is a sympathetic, multi-dimensional character. By teaching Joey and Steve to shoot and hunt and by telling them the history of his own long life, which mirrors the long march of his people to equality and social justice, Skeeter succeeds in demonstrating that friendship, human dignity, and individual worth transcend superficial considerations of skin color. The problem, in dramatic terms, is that his students seem already educated when he meets them. Both boys are already compassionate, understanding, and well mannered. And if Steve, who will become Skeeter's surrogate son, is initially uncomfortable in the old man's presence, this seems more a product of adolescent awkwardness than prejudice. An even larger problem is that Smith tells readers more than she shows them. It is not enough to tell them that Joey and Steve have changed, and there is no demonstration of this change through the accretion of dramatic incident. Despite good intentions, well-realized characters and setting--and a formidable knowledge of guns and hunting-- Skeeter ultimately becomes simply a didactic exercise. --Michael Cart, Beverly Hills Pub . Lib .
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0395616212
• ISBN 13: 9780395616215
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 216