Paperboy [Hardcover]

Mary Kay Kroeger (Author), Louise W. Borden (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 16, 1996 | Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

In Cincinnati in 1927, paperboy Willie Brinkman attempts to sell extra copies of the special edition covering the Dempsey-Tunney fight in his working-class neighborhood.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Lustrous watercolors illuminate this finely crafted period piece set against the Dempsey-Tunney boxing match of 1927. Willie Brinkman works every day after school selling newspapers in Cincinnati, and with his hero, Jack Dempsey, attempting a comeback for the world heavyweight championship, he eagerly signs up to sell "extras" the night of the fight. The family gathers around the radio to listen?scenes Lewin (illustrator of Borden's Just in Time for Christmas) depicts by showing the rapt family in color and the boxers in black and white. When Dempsey loses, it takes true grit on Willie's part to keep his pledge and try to sell the unpopular news. Based on an event in first-time author Kroeger's father's childhood, the story is seamlessly told, with loving attention to detail, and Lewin's gift for portraiture brings the characters, and an era, to glowing life. Ages 5-9.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-3?The big story here is the 1927 Jack Dempsey-Gene Tunney fight for the World Heavyweight Championship in Chicago. The small story, through, is about Willie Brinkman, a paperboy on a "small potatoes" corner in Cincinnati. In the hours preceding the famous fight, the sense of excitement mounts and the youngster signs up to sell the "Fight Extra." The drama of this particular moment in sports history aligns with Willie's personal drama, as the large family gathers around Pop's wooden radio. It is with frustration and disbelief that Willie realizes that Dempsey has missed his moment in the seventh round and will not regain his title. The sense of unfairness follows Willie like a shadow as he makes his way through the dark streets to pick up the papers he has no heart to sell and few in the neighborhood have the heart to buy. His sense of duty is not lost on his boss, though, who, next day, counts off 225 papers and says: "I need a boy who shows up, and who works, win or lose." Lewin's watercolors bring Willie's Cincinnati to life. The streets and buildings are large and enveloping, creating not only a strong sense of place and time, but of the youngster's small, particular, emerging place in it. Black-and-white "stills" of Dempsey and Tunney share some pages with vivid, animated full-color scenes of the Brinkman family. An engaging work that will bring home, through well-chosen details and a well-told story, the intimate connections one can make with "famous facts" when the personal perspective is added.?Susan Powers, Rock Creek Forest Elementary School, Chevy Chase, MD
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Clarion Books; 1St Edition edition (March 16, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395644828
• ISBN-13: 978-0395644829
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,954,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Paperboy, March 4, 2008

By 

Betty Goerss "Reading Consultant" (LaFollette, TN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Paperboy (Paperback)

This book, based on a true story, is both informative and entertaining. The story is set in 1927 in Cincinnati and revolves around the fight that Jack Dempsey did not win. But the theme of the book is what makes it such an excellent book. The paperboy did not quit just because his was not the best corner or the "Extra" did not sell well. He was dependable and rewarded for doing his best. The book appeals to all ages of children and even to adults.