Customer Reviews

The Search for Belle Prater

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

One morning Belle Prater just disappeared from her Virginia mountain home leaving her son Woodrow and husband. Woodrow, now living with his grandparents, is driven to find his mother. Cousin Gypsy goes with him in the search. Along the way they meet some interesting people. This story seems to be too pat in some of the plot lines but the story will be welcomed by fans of Belle Prater's Boy. The mystery of Belle's disappearance is finally solved.

The Search for Belle Prater is the sequel to the Newbery award winner Belle Prater's Boy. In this story Belle's son is a little older and finally decides he's going to try to find his mother. He's living with relatives and more of the story of what happened to Belle begins to unfold. A sweet story that is easy to read with charming, likeable characters.

The follow-up book to Belle Prater's Boy was satisfying. While it wasn't quite as enchanting as the first book, it did intrigue and entertain this reader. I would recommend it to anyone who read the first book, although the new book summarizes the basic plot, so it's not completely a necessity. Great book!

I was hoping to find the magic in this book that I found in its predecessor, Belle Prater's Boy. And while this one does have its moments (the dialogue is very well done), much of it seems forced. Gypsy and her cousin Woodrow take a bus trip to a nearby town in hopes of locating Woodrow's missing mother, Belle. The characters peopling the bus seem to be White's focus, rather than the main characters themselves. I feel the spark, mystery, and originality of the first book just isn't there for this one; it's still a good, quick read, but it's just not a worthy sequel.

I am doing my book report on the story of The Search for Belle Prater. The author of this book is Ruth White. The genre of my book is realistic fiction.



The book starts of when Woodrow Prater realizes one day that her Grandma is missing. One day, on the coal-mining holler in Virginia, Belle Prater (the Grandma) mysteriously disappeared. When Woodrow got the news, he went searching for her for several weeks, but never found her. She has been missing for over a year but, on New Years Eve (Woodrow's birthday) gets an anonymous phone call telling where her mother might be, but hangs up in the middle of the conversation.


Woodrow eventually found where the call came from, so he goes searching again with his best friend and cousin, Gypsy. After that, they still didn't find her, but they did find a note. The search continues.



I enjoy this book very much. The reason it's a good book is because of the twists and turns that happen through the story. The book is suited for all ages 9 and above.