Dell Yearling -- tpbNew York -- ©1999 -- 227pp
ISBN: 0-440-22904-9
National Book Award gold medal winner
One summer, young Toby learns that interesting things can happen, even in Antler, Texas -- his mother leaves to try to make it as a country singer in Nashville, his best-friend's brother dies in Vietnam, and he befriends "The World's Fattest Boy."
The writing of this was crisp and clear, and easy to read, and seemed like an enjoyable novel. However, as I think on it now, there are too many loose ends and sub-plots that don't go anywhere (the whole idea of Toby trying to gain the favor of a certain young girl, and then fixing her up again with her ex-boyfriend seems pointless in retrospect).
Some lofty themes and dealing with issues such as death and divorce make it easy to see why this is an award winner, but it is not a book that I would recommend to students or for study.
