My Last Days as Roy Rogers [Paperback]

Pat Cunningham Devoto (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 2000

In an Alabama town in the early 1950s during the last polio summer before the Salk vaccine, ten-year-old Tabitha "Tab" Rutland is about to have the time of her life. Although movie theaters and pools have been closed to stem the epidemic, Tab, a tomboy with a passion for Roy Rogers, still seeks adventure with her best friend Maudie May, "the lightest brown colored person" she knows. Now as they meddle with the local bootlegger, Mr. Jake, row out on the Tennessee River to land the biggest catfish ever, and snoop into the town's darkest secrets, Tab sets out to be a hero...and comes of age in an unforgettable confrontation with human frailty, racial injustice, and the healing power of love.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The setting for this nostalgic coming-of-age first novel is the last "polio summer" of 1954, just before the Salk vaccine ended the annual poliomyelitis epidemics. With the Bainbridge, Ala., swimming pools and movie theater closed, and fear and germs in the air, eight-year-old narrator Tabitha "Tab" Goodloe Rutland, her 13-year-old friend Maudie May, and Maudie's two young brothers?who can speak but don't or won't?build a hideout and christen it Fort Polio, the scariest name they can think of. Near a creek and hidden by kudzu (the official flower of Southern literature), the fort affords the perfect vantage point from which to watch the local bootlegger and his seemingly respectable customers. Here they plot to free the neighbor boy whose mother makes him stay inside the house all summer, and ponder the truths they read in Silver Screen. Meanwhile, Tab's mother, considered a northerner because she was born in Tennessee, seeks acceptance in the exclusive Ladies Help League. Devoto's story has its charming moments, but Tab's voice is often cloying, the ending is contrived and much of the narrative has a by-the-numbers quality. Roy Rogers makes a brief appearance at the beginning, then vanishes with his white hat and reassuring promise that justice triumphs, just as Tab begins to realize that it doesn't.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

YA-Life is easy and innocent for 10-year-old Tabitha Rutland, narrator of this novel about one "typical" 1950s summer in Bainbridge, AL. Tab and Maudie build a fort in the kudzu, and watch Mr. Jake sell his bootleg liquor to a range of customers including the mayor. But life in this Southern town is not as easy as it seems. Mama is rejected from the Ladies Help League because she expresses progressive opinions and is a Northerner (from Knoxville, TN). Tab's friend John spends the summer in his basement, being protected (so his mother hopes) from the local polio epidemic. Then there is the unspoken issue of racism. Tab and Maudie play together in their "Fort Polio," and window-shop together for Roy Rogers lunch boxes. But at the movies, Tab sits downstairs, and Maudie joins the other "Colored" folks in the balcony. Time seems to be passing Bainbridge by this summer, but then something happens that will change life in this bastion of traditional Southern culture forever. Like the narrators in Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird and Olive Burns's Cold Sassy Tree, Tab is both childlike and wise; the story is both humorous and poignant. Devoto provides a highly readable and entertaining novel packed full of rich and delightful dialogue, funny situations and vignettes, and all-to-human insights and drama.
Becky Ferrall, Stonewall Jackson High School, Manassas, VA
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (February 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446675644
• ISBN-13: 978-0446675642
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #893,440 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

The author was born and raised in Florence, Alabama, graduated from the University of Tennessee with a BS in Secondary Education, attended graduate school at Georgia State University. She lives now in Atlanta and Alabama. For more information go to: patcunninghamdevoto.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Poignant memories, April 26, 2002

By 

Beverley Strong (Australia) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Last Days as Roy Rogers (Paperback)

This is a story of an innocent childhood , set in the 50's in a small Southern town in Alabama. It's almost a Girls Huck Finn in that the main character Tab Rutland and her friend,Maudie May "the lightest brown skinned person that I know", get up to all sorts of mischief and fun in what turns out to be their last summer together and the virtual end of their childhood.I'm sure that this will bring back happy memories to many readers and a sense of nostalgia for a more innocent time.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Childhood memories brought back, March 4, 2002

By 

Ramona Honan "reviews-by-melva" (Dallas, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Last Days as Roy Rogers (Paperback)

This book reminded me a lot of my childhood. Long summer days, Roy Rogers, the polio scare, hideouts, and long-lost childhood friends.

It is the story of Tab Rutland who lives in a small Alabama town in 1954. The 1954 polio scare is on, and all of the swimming pools are closed in the town. So with her new friend, Maudie (who is the daughter of the neighbor's African-American maid) they set about to build a fort in a kudzu vine thicket which they nickname Fort Polio. They then begin a summer spying on the local moonshine maker, taking a fishing trip to get money for school supplies for Maudie, Tab's friendship with her neighbor's son, John (who is brilliant in his own right), in addition to other adventures. Meanwhile, Tab's mother is blackballed by the venerable Ladies Help League and especially by the head of the League, Mrs. Grace Poovey.

But the summer ends--and what happens to Mrs. Poovey? And--what happens to Maudie and why does she have to leave town?

This is a wonderful coming-of-age novel set in the 1950s and those have grown up in this time period will enjoy this book immensely.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fun to read on vacation, September 9, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: My Last Days As Roy Rogers (Hardcover)

Having grown up in Knoxville, Tennessee and living in the south all of my life, I really enjoyed this book. It brought back memories! Although it is light reading, it has a great story line. I have recommended it to my 80+ year old mother and fellow book club members!