V For Victor [Hardcover]

Mark Childress (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 31, 1988

It is 1943 in Mobile, Alabama. While the world prepares for war, sixteen-year-old Victor -- sent to care for his grandmother -- yearns to be part of the unfolding patriotic adventure. Victor's wish comes true, and he embarks on a suspenseful series of exploits, and a dramatic passage into adulthood. An ALA Best Book for Young Adults.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Taking its title from the "V for Victory" salute of WW II, Childress's second novel has a nostalgia-inducing wealth of period detail. It is not so successful as a coming-of-age narrative, however, since Childress seems not to have been able to restrain himself from indulging in a boy's fantasy of adventure, heroism and romance. The 16-year-old son of a brutal shrimp fisherman, Victor is itching to run off to join his older brother in the navy. Instead, he is consigned to watch over his elderly grandmother who lives alone on an island in Mobile (Ala.) Bay. One night he stumbles on a dead body, the first in a series of events that involves him with a Nazi submarine, a hard-nosed teenaged bootlegger named Butch, a specious coast marshall, a wealthy old man, his narcissistic actress wife and her seductive grandaughter. Childress's A World Made of Fire was melodramatic but mesmerizing. Here his tendency to melodrama is not redeemed by the nature of the material, freighted as it is with mysterious coincidences and predictable plot manipulations. In their attempts to outwit the Nazi collaborationists and the crew of the U-boat, Victor and Butch share some desperately dangerous experiences and metamorphose, in the end, to Tom and Huck, taking a boat down the river. While it doesn't convince as a novel, the cinematic plot is perfect for a thriller movie.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

YA-- In the summer of 1942, 16-year-old Victor feels he has outgrown his grandmother's island in Mobile Bay, Alabama, where he has been sent by his father to be a companion for his dying grandmother. He wishes he were old enough to join the Army, and avidly follows the World War II radio news. When his small motor boat crashes into a surfacing German U-boat in the bay, the pace of Victor's summer changes. Before long, he and a daredevil friend are embroiled in a series of adventures involving corpses, spies and counter-spies, Nazis, police, and an assortment of rich, eccentric tourists. Imprisoned, kidnapped, and on the run, Victor wrestles with guilt and grief when his grandmother dies. There is an artful balance here between the coming-of-age theme and the action-filled plot. Filling a gap between the "Hardy Boys" series and the more sophisticated novels by Tom Clancy or Ken Follet, V for Victor delivers plenty of memorable suspense.
- Keddy Outlaw, Harris County Public Library, Houston
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Knopf; First edition (December 31, 1988)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394568710
• ISBN-13: 978-0394568713
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,188,593 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mark Childress is the author of seven novels: GEORGIA BOTTOMS (coming from Little, Brown in February 2011), ONE MISSISSIPPI, GONE FOR GOOD, CRAZY IN ALABAMA, TENDER, V FOR VICTOR, and A WORLD MADE OF FIRE.

Born in Monroeville, Alabama - the same town Harper Lee wrote about in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD - Childress is one of three sons of Roy and Mary Helen Childress. Roy was a salesman for Ralston Purina, so the family moved a lot growing up: Ohio, Indiana, Mississippi, and Louisiana were some of the stops along the way.

Childress attended Clinton (Miss.) High School and the University of Alabama, where he studied fiction writing under Barry Hannah and Carole Johnson. He worked as a staff writer for the Birmingham (Ala.) News, and was Features Editor of Southern Living magazine and National Editor of The Atlanta Journal and Constitution before becoming a full-time novelist.

His articles and reviews have appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Times of London, San Francisco Chronicle, Saturday Review, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Travel and Leisure, and other national and international publications.

"Tender," a Literary Guild and Doubleday Book Club selection, was named to several Ten Best of 1990 lists, and appeared on many national bestseller lists. "Crazy in Alabama," a featured selection of the Literary Guild, has been published in eleven languages and appeared on many bestseller lists and Ten Best of 1993 lists. "Crazy" was named The (London) Spectator's "Book of the Year" for 1993 and a New York Times "Notable Book of the Year," and was on the Spiegel bestseller list in Germany for 10 months.

"One Mississippi" was a BookSense Notable Book of the Year, nominated for SIBA Book of the Year,and appeared on the "hot summer book" lists of Good Morning America, People, Entertainment Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, O: the Oprah Magazine, and the New York Public Library. The paperback edition is now in its seventh printing.

Childress has also written three picture books for children, "Joshua and Bigtooth," in 1992, "Joshua and the Big Bad Blue Crabs," 1996 (both from Little, Brown), and "Henry Bobbity Is Missing And It Is All Billy Bobbity's Fault," (Crane Hill Publishers, 1996).

He wrote the screenplay of the Columbia Pictures film "Crazy in Alabama," directed by Antonio Banderas, and starring Melanie Griffith, an official selection of the Venice and San Sebastian film festivals in 1999.

Childress is now working on his eighth novel and a film project. He lives in Key West, Florida.

(Author photo by Brett Hall)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fun Mystery and Coming-of-Age story, May 23, 2008

By 

Wanderer (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: V for Victor (Paperback)

I really enjoyed this novel. It has all the atmosphere of the south combined with a likeable character. Sixteen-year-old Victor runs away from his abusive father and has some great adventures during World War II off the coast and in the swamps of Alabama. He encounters German spies and a German submarine.

I don't want to spoil the novel and say anymore, except that I loved the down-home characters, especially Victor's grandmother.

Your "helpful" votes are appreciated, and please remember that a short review or recommendation that leads you to a good novel can be a good review.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Terrific adventure for kids of all ages, May 18, 2001

By 

"kev1942" (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: V for Victor (Paperback)

I loved the whole watery world of Mobile Bay, and so did my nephew, 14 years younger than I. I think this is one of the most accomplished, poetic adventure novels I've ever read. Victor and his buddy Butch are unforgettable. Definitely one of this author's best.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Childress doesn't disappoint., June 7, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Guntersville, Alabama) - See all my reviews

This review is from: V for Victor (Paperback)

V for Victor was the second book I read by Mark Childress and I wasn't disappointed. Being from Alabama, I could definately relate to this 16-year old boy and his need for adventure. From the first moment to the last, I was enthralled by this book and the eye-popping adventures Victor experienced. Shouldn't everyone have a summer like this?