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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A REMARKABLE WORK. BEST YOUTH BOOK I HAVE READ IN SEVERAL YEARS., June 11, 2009
Every so often you pick up and read a book and know instantly you have a winner on your hands. So it was and is with this new novel by Fran Cannon Slayton. The fact is some authors have that something "special," while others simply are found lacking. This author most definitely has it. We have on our hands here a very remarkable work!
This is a coming of age book about a young man growing up in a small town in West Virginia in the early 1940s. Ms. Slayton has used a somewhat unique technique in that she tells the story of our young lad by relating incidences which happen on each Halloween (All Hallows' Eve) from 1940 through 1949. Each chapter tells us of the adventures, feelings, relationships, and essence of the young boy's life; each chapter is a story unto its own, but each story is interlocked in a way that we are allowed to view the life of not only boy growing into a man, but also that of his family, friends, town and surprisingly, the changes our entire country was going through during this period. Now this may sound like a tall order, but the author has pulled it off in spades!
There are two features in this work that tie the story together and to which the author hangs all. First, this is a deeply intimate tale of the relationship between a father and a son, and secondly there is the ever present background of the trains and the railroad. This entire community; indeed the young man `s life and the life of his family, are closely tied to the steam engine at a time when progress is changing everything with the coming of the diesel power engines and, lets face it, the death of the American Rail Road.
This story, while extremely profound and serious in many ways is actually hilarious at times. The author's sense of humor, as transmitted through the eyes of a young man, shines throughout the book. Many times I found myself chuckling and in fact, laughing. Again, it takes quite a lot of writing skill to pull this swing from sadness and pathos to hilarity and light heartedness off, but the author is well up to the task. It is quite amazing, actually.
There are several items the reader needs to note and will spot instantly from the first page. First, Ms. Clayton has nailed her characters perfectly. I grew up in a small town in the Ozark Mountains at the very time this story took place. There was not one single character in this book that was not absolutely believable. There was not one single character that I could not introduce to you their counter part in my own home town as I grew up. Secondly, this work is being marketed and targeted for youth, ages between 9 and 12. This you will quickly find is a bit misleading. While this book is certainly appropriate for that age group, it goes well and far beyond. This work is one of those cross over books which a youth can read and enjoy, but at the same time someone like me, slowly sinking into his dotage, can read and relish just as well as the young. Thirdly, I was gratified to see that the author did not make the mistake that so many authors make in that she did not use the regional dialect to any great extent. Now I am a dialect junkie...absolutely love the stuff, but I promise you that the youth of today, for the most part, are completely turned off by this and have a problem reading it. As a retired person, forced by my wife to continue work simply to get me out from under foot, I substitute teach, pretty much full time. I know the reaction of the kids when they encounter a work filled with dialog with strong regional dialect included; they simply block it out and give up their attempt to read and understand it. The author has used grammatical errors in her dialog, but these errors are universal, natural and are still with us today. They are simply how the young speak. Her use of this is workable and readable and understandable to the kids that will be reading this book.
It is also important to note that this is a tale concerning change. We live in a super fast world today where change is literally with us on a daily basis. It is somehow comforting to know that this is not the only generation faced with changes and the underlying unsaid message is "it they could do it, i.e. survive change, then so can I." I like this.
This is certainly a book about boys and written for boys but do not be thrown by this. Kids are kids, people are people and at a certain level, gender plays little role in a story well told. I do not see why kids of either sex would not enjoy this work. If you think about it, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn were books about boys and for boys and those two works seemed to have worked out quite well.
This is one work that you will want to add to your child's library, but treat yourself and read it. School teachers, school librarians and public librarians...jump on this one quick. I suspect we are going to see this one in a lot of classrooms over the next several years.
Bottom line: We have a wonderfully crafted story which is extremely readable with a delightful syntax. We have a story that in many ways is timeless, as the actions and emotions of youth really have not changed all that much over the last couple thousand years, and we have a good piece of literature that will not only entertain, but it will teach. It really does not get much better than this.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Newbery commitee, keep your eyes open, October 18, 2009
Growing up in the 1940's railroad town of Rowlesburg, West Virginia, Jimmy Cannon just wants to grow up and work on the steam engines like his family has for generations. Oh, and keep his no-nonsense father from finding out about his antics. And stick up for his friends. And win the championship football game for his high school. And grow up to become a man...maybe more like his father than he would have ever guessed.
When the Whistle Blows is an example of an excellently-written story teamed with a tangible, charming setting, a cast of believable, lovable characters and a touching plot. I could go on for a long time about everything I love about this novel, but I'll limit myself to only a few: 1) Voice. Fran Cannon Slayton uses the first person voice of her narrator with incredible skill, adroitly expressing setting and time period not so much by what is said as by how it is said...and that also serves to make this an excellent read-aloud. 2) Style. Each chapter is presented vignette-style, presenting several consecutive All Hallows' Eves, each with its own story...which leads to 3) Plot. Although each chapter is a vignette, each perfectly advances the overall plot, which is beautifully wrapped-up in the final chapter, while still leaving the reader with plenty to reflect upon.
Very highly recommended.
(You can read my full review at my blog: [...])
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent Storytelling, Unique Voice, Deserves to Win an Award It Is THAT GOOD!, July 8, 2009
I was attracted to this book because it is a coming of age story with a teenaged boy character set around a train town in the 1940s. Both books about trains and good stories from the 1940s are not common themes for children aged 9-12. I hoped it would be a good story for my train aficionado son to enjoy reading.
The book was quite different than what I assumed, it was better than expected. But first I'll share that my almost-twelve year old son grabbed the book first and when he read the back cover he said, "This is the best idea for a story I've heard in a long time!" He put aside the book he was currently reading in order to read this one and he finished it over two days, riveted to it. He said it was a very good book with sadness in the end and he implored me to read it right away.
When I began reading it I was surprised by the format and the storytelling style. The format is telling one long story of what happens on All Hallows Eve, in seven stories total. So, the book is like a short story collection of one boy's life from ages 12-18. Author Fran Cannon Slayton weaves in details of what happened in the last year and more about the main character's life and of his family and the changing times so with each chapter we learn more and more about the family, the railroad, the times and how they are changing.
Secondly I was surprised at the voice of the character. I was reminded of the wonderful storytelling of my grandmother who passed away recently at age 98. I used to love hearing her old tales, rich in the language of days gone by, with local terms and old fashioned sayings. I love the way the author chose to tell this story! This storytelling style is not common in new published fiction for readers aged 9-12. I enjoyed it thoroughly.
I wondered if today's kids would like it and specifically asked my son what he thought of that method of storytelling. He said he loved it because it was different than most books he reads and that it made him feel like he was transported back in time and really helped him feel like he was in that place and in that time. You couldn't wish for much more than that in a story! (I'll note that his favorite genre is fantasy such as ERAGON and secondarily he likes fiction such as Andrew Clements, so I was happily surprised that he enjoyed this writing style which is very different from the books he usually reads.)
Two elements that I was drawn to were the very strong family bonds especially between the brothers and the boy's father (the mother is not a strong figure in the story) and the feeling of brotherhood and camaraderie between the teenaged boys and the men. These were clear in the stories about pranks with friends and dealing with an older bully, the football championship game, the men who worked on the railroad together and the adult men in the Secret Society. This is a masculine book through and through with strong men as role models. This is a book that boys should read and is one that I hope girls will enjoy as well.
As I already said my son said the book had sadness in it, and that is true. The book is emotional and I shed tears in the scenes when characters were mourning deaths of people they loved.
The book is well written and the author is an excellent storyteller. I really enjoyed this book.
I can't say much more without spoiling the story.
I was left wishing there were more books on the market like this one...
If you have a boy in your life aged 9-12 have them read this book. Actually, any aged reader with an interest in reading good storytelling or interested in tales from the 1940s or about railroading would enjoy it. It would make a great read aloud from parent to child or even grandparent to child (the grandparent may enjoy this very much also).
I hope schools and libraries purchase this book as I feel it will appeal to some readers who have trouble finding newly published fiction that they like.
Railroad and Trolley Museums as well should offer this for sale in their gift shops. Parents of train enthusiast children are always on the lookout for good books with trains in them.
This is a window into the 1940s in a time when steam trains were on the way out and diesels were coming in, so the book can be used in classrooms as an educational book as well. I can also imagine this being a summer reading program selection.
The last thing I'll say is this book deserves to win an award. It is that good!
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