The Garden of Eden Motel [Hardcover]

Morse Hamilton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 28, 1999 | Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

Eleven-year-old Dal Wilkins has high hopes for his summer vacation He istraveling out west on a real Pullman train to the land of cowboys and bucking broncos. At least that's the west that Dal, a city kid, imagines. The catch? Dal's traveling partner is Mr. Sabatini, his new stepfather. Mr. Sabatini is okay, maybe, but Dal can't imagine thinking of him as his dad.

At first, summer in Eden , Idaho, isn't quite what Dal expects. He and Mr. Sabatini bunk down in tiny Unit Number 4 of the Garden of Eden Motel--so much for the Wild West. Then Dal got his first job--"roguing" bean plants with a wisecracking crew of locals--and meets Patty Puckett, the girl next door. Summer in Eden starts to resemble the adventure Dal was hoping to find. It takes a journey to the snake-infested wilderness, though, for Dal to discover the real--not the TV--meaning of courage, resourcefulness, and love.

Set in the early 1950s, this is a deeply wise, funny, and timeless story from esteemed author Morse Hamilton.

Swaggering cowboys, bucking broncos, maybe some Russian spies hiding out in the desert. Summer in the wild West is sure to produce all this and more for eleven-year-old city kid Dal Wilkins that is, if he can last three months in rural Idaho with Harry Sabatini, his new stepfather. But soon Dal has his first job with a wisecracking, all-female crew of field hands, meets first love, and comes face to face with a terrifying crisis that demands all his nerve and skill. Suddenly a summer of fanciful boyhood expectations has become anything but....Set in the early 1950s, this is a deeply funny, wise, and moving story for all times from notable author Morse Hamilton.

Notable Children's Trade Books in the Field of Social Studies 2000, National Council for SS & Child. Book Council and 00 Riverbank Review Magazine's Children's Books of Distinction Award Nominations

Swaggering cowboys, bucking broncos, maybe some Russian spies hiding out in the desert. Summer in the wild West is sure to produce all this and more for eleven-year-old city kid Dal Wilkins that is, if he can last three months in rural Idaho with Harry Sabatini, his new stepfather. But soon Dal has his first job with a wisecracking, all-female crew of field hands, meets first love, and comes face to face with a terrifying crisis that demands all his nerve and skill. Suddenly a summer of fanciful boyhood expectations has become anything but....Set in the early 1950s, this is a deeply funny, wise, and moving story for all times from notable author Morse Hamilton.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Thoroughly convincing portraits of both an era and a thoughtful, likable 11-year-old emerge in this carefully crafted novel by the late Hamilton (Belching Hill; Effie's House). In 1952, Dal and his stepfather, Harry, spend several months in a motel in rural Eden, Idaho, where Harry, a crop inspector for a seed company, is working for the summer. The appealing and finely balanced third-person narrative unfolds through Dal's perspective, with a dry Midwestern humor. Upon his arrival in Eden, for example, when Harry introduces his stepson to Mr. and Mrs. Turner, Dal muses, "(Why did people shake hands? Dogs sniffed each other. Not that he would want to sniff the Turners)." Hamilton smoothly traces the events that expand the boy's horizons and sense of independence (he works for awhile in the bean fields, falls for a spunky girl, invests his savings in a uranium mine and saves Harry's life when a snake bites the man), as he wonders often about his father, who died in WWII when Dal was two years old; and about his mother and step-sister at home in Detroit. Most affectingly, the author reveals the growing trust and communication between the boy and his good-hearted stepfather. Ages 10-up. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-In the 1950s, Dal Wilkins, a shy 11-year-old, heads West with his new stepfather, Harry Sabatini, a crop inspector for a seed company. Dal's natural resentment of Mr. Sabatini and his young daughter wanes and, as he gets to know the man, his respect and affection for him grow. Dal also finds his first love, Patty, among the natives of the small Idaho town in which his stepfather is working. The climax comes when Dal must use all his newfound courage and skill to save Mr. Sabatini's life after the man is bitten by a rattlesnake. The dry third-person voice makes involvement difficult at times and dulls the action; however, the boy's emotions and thoughts do come through. Dal doesn't overanalyze his relationship with Mr. Sabatini, and his thoughts about Patty are realistically muddled. Hamilton's realistic description and subtle humor make this a coming-of-age story that will find an audience.
Trish Anderson, Pinkerton Elementary School, Coppell, TX
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books; 1st edition (October 28, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688168140
• ISBN-13: 978-0688168148
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,853,488 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Is What It Was Like To Be A Kid In The 1950s, April 10, 2000

By 

Dr. Michael Trend - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Garden of Eden Motel (Hardcover)

The Garden of Eden Motel...

This is a well-written, well-plotted book about an almost-adolescent boy and his new step-father in the 1950s...

The author--Morse Hamilton--nails it dead-on just how it was to be a kid during the S-L-O-W, innocent, and unenlightened Eisenhower era.

He also put the words down exactly right about what it's like to have a new step-father, what it's like to be a new step-father, and what it's like to suddenly meet the very first girl who makes your stomach feel all funny...

I suppose that some folk with 1990s style short attention spans might the piece slow going, but he's talking about a different time, and a different place.

The dialogue rings true, really true.

So do the characters.

I don't have time or patience with most of the books written for children, or worse, for "Youth Ages 12 & Up". They're usually pretty silly stuff, and nowadays, they always seem to have some sort of MESSAGE that's kinda like the Moment Of Crap on TV, where the sit com writers let you know that AIDS is a "serious problem", or that one shouldn't be hateful, or sexist, or prejudiced.

Thanks so much for tellin' me!

There's none of that heavy-handed moralizing in The Garden of Eden Motel. It's old-fashioned good story telling, the kind that seems to have gone out of style, unfortunately...

Confession: Morse Hamilton--and I went to junior high school together. As I write this, an image from the sandlots has just flashed before me.

We were playing in a championship game, and the real Jimmy Beard (not the one mentioned once or twice in the book) fielded a hard-hit ground ball at shortstop and flipped it to me at second.

I caught the ball, stepped on the bag, pivoted, and then made THE PERFECT THROW to Morse at first, which should have gotten us out of the ball game. I could almost feel my fingers wrapping themselves around the trophy.

I can still see the ball going into his glove.

And now I see it popping out and dribbling behind him.

"Yah booted it, More-Ass," I grumbled to myself later. "And we lost the game, YA JERK!"

I didn't forgive him for three weeks, by which time he was out with his father in Idaho, which provides the back drop for this book.

Now, I wouldn't say the Garden of Eden Motel was a good book if it wasn't, especially since Morse committed the error that cost us the championship forty-something years ago.

But, believe me, he didn't muff this story. The piece is right on, and I'm glad he was able to finish it before he died.

So, sail on, old friend. Sail on.

4.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing, well-told, August 30, 2002

By 

V. Brader (Ann Arbor, MI USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Garden of Eden Motel (Hardcover)

I bought this book as a gift for my flower girl, who had never been to Idaho and was making her first trip. I read it and liked it, and there aren't many books set in Idaho for kids her age. She was absolutely absorbed--read it at the rehearsal, then at the rehearsal dinner, and there are even pictures of her with it in the pew at the wedding! Clearly it captures the attention.
I think the book has three terrific strengths. First, unlike many kids books that attempt to beat kids over the head with the message of tolerance (and become boring doing it), this book deals with class tensions, gender differences, difficulties with blended families, etc. without any preaching or beating you over the head. This is the best of showing, instead of telling, and it gives a great message to kids: why you shouldn't tease those who are different, etc.
Second, the narrrator's voice is convincing. We can believe that this is a boy telling the story, and his observations are consistent with his age and his understanding of the events around him.
Finally, the book has an unusual setting and therefore gets the attention of kids. Very few children have ever been to a place like Eden, Idaho, which is convincingly portrayed here. Those who have been will recognize it, and many of those who haven't will be interested just by so different a world.