As Ever, Gordy (An Avon Camelot Book) [Paperback]

Mary Downing Hahn (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: An Avon Camelot Book

Life wasn't fair.  As soon as you thought you were safe, someone pulled the rug out from under you.  And there you were, back on the train, going to the very place you thought you'd left for good.

Gordy couldn't be less happy about moving back to his old hometown of College Hill, Maryland, where everybody knows his family's troubled history.  In North Carolina, Gordy's life was finally on the right track.  Back in College Hill, Gordy and his sister, June, must move into a cramped apartment with their brother stu and his new family.  The principal at Gordy's school has it in for him, his pals encourage him to cause trouble, and his old rival, Elizabeth, can't see that he's changed.  The whole world seems to be against Gordy.  Is Gordy destined to slip back into his old trouble-making ways for good?

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 5^-8. When his grandmother suddenly dies, 13-year-old Gordy and his younger sister must move from Grandville back to College Hill to live with their older brother's family. Under his grandmother's steady influence, Gordy had turned his life around, but he soon finds trouble in his old town. Friends egg him into a number of scrapes yet quickly abandon and even betray him. Attracted to his old friend Elizabeth, Gordy wants desperately to impress her but sabotages himself at every turn. Caught in a downward spiral, Gordy seems destined for reform school until his family and Elizabeth reveal how much they care for him. The post^-World War II setting is merely cosmetic, but Gordy is a painfully believable adolescent, angry with the very people who love him and trapped by the town's knee-jerk judgment of his family. A worthy sequel to Stepping on Cracks (1991) and Following My Own Footsteps (1996), but this also stands well on its own. Linda Perkins --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

An eighth grader finds that his tough-guy persona doesn't fit as well as it used to in Hahn's third book about the fragmented Smith family (Stepping On The Cracks, 1991; Following My Own Footsteps, 1996). After his grandmother's sudden death, Gordy has to move back to the hated Maryland town in which he grew up. Discovering that the intervening two years have done little to dim his family's white-trash reputation, and that his ne'er-do-well friends, Doug and Toad, haven't changed, Gordy slips back into his old troublemaking ways. The role begins to chafe, however, when he develops a yen for old rival LizLizzy the LizardCrawford, and learns that his abusive father and reform-school- graduate older brother aren't the best role models when it comes to human relations. Hahn expertly shows how the expectations of others influence Gordy's behavior, as he struggles to step away from his bad old self; in the end he takes that step, though not without a realistic amount of backsliding. To Gordy's surprise and pleasure, Elizabeth is willing to meet him half way. While Gordy's anger is the dominant feeling here, flashes of humor and deftly inserted historical details of the postWW II era lighten the load. (Fiction. 10-13) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: HarperTrophy (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380732068
• ISBN-13: 978-0380732067
• Product Dimensions: 7.3 x 4.9 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,172,271 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mary Downing Hahn, a former children's librarian, is the award-winning author of many popular ghost stories, including Deep and Dark and Dangerous and The Old Willis Place. An avid reader, traveler, and all-around arts lover, Ms. Hahn lives in Columbia, Maryland, with her two cats, Oscar and Rufus.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gordy faces continuing problems as he returns to Maryland., April 15, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Springfield, Va.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: As Ever, Gordy (Hardcover)

Gordy is still an angry young man. The sudden death of his grandmother mean that he and June must return to Maryland to live with his brother, his wife and her son, who is not pleased with having an older brother to share a room. Gordy soon finds himself running with the same crowd which got him in trouble in the first place. He meets "Lizard" and is attracted by her but unable to find the right way to let her know this. When everything comes to a climax as Gordy and Lizard's boy friend get in a fight at a school dance and Gordy is later persuaded to throw cherry bombs in the foyer of a professor's house the reader is sure that Gordy will finally be really punished. But Lizard's dad, Gordy's understanding sister-in-law, and a surprising understanding principal work to get Gordy started on what might finally be a positive direction. The characters are excellent and while reading the book, I was often saying to myself, "Oh, No, Gordy, don't do that". Very realistic and a good sequel. For the older readers who can understand his feelings. Could, perhaps, use with Wringer and other stories by Spinelli.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars wonderful book, you'll love it, May 27, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: As Ever, Gordy (Hardcover)

Mary Downing Hahn is a great author, it is a wonderful book. Make sure you read the first to books before, stepping on the cracks, and following my own footsteps.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great plot and character development, December 6, 2004

By 

sara anderson (ville platte, la) - See all my reviews

This review is from: As Ever, Gordy (An Avon Camelot Book) (Paperback)

Gordy is finally doing well in life and school now that he is living with his grandmother. His abusive father and submissive mother have moved to California and Gordy and June are adjusting well. However, tragedy strikes once more in Gordy's life. His grandmother has had a massive heart attack and dies, leaving Gordy and June to return to their old hometown. This is where Gordy is known as a troublemaker and upon his return, he begins hanging out with his old friends. Gordy is slipping into the same troublemaking pattern. His sister-in-law and brother attempt to help guide Gordy into a positive path, but Gordy is full of anger and rage. In this story, Gordy must face his past and learn to accept it. Gordy knows he needs to try to make positive changes if he ever wants to win the attention of Elizabeth and shed the label of being a troublemaker.