Bala Boy

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Overview

"All my life, in kindergarten and grade one, I walked to school with Terry and Jimmy, and now I was far away, going to a new school, on another planet." Or so it seems to seven year old Daniel McGrew who, in April 1946, begins his odyssey to young manhood in the picturesque village of Bala. Among the 400 souls in the town are the ever inebriated Athol Bentwhistle, cross eyed Fire Chief Noseworthy, and the irascible Principal of the two room schoolhouse Mr. Wiliwack.

Danny and his friends Tommy, Ed, and Fergus ...
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Bala Boy

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More About This Book

Overview

"All my life, in kindergarten and grade one, I walked to school with Terry and Jimmy, and now I was far away, going to a new school, on another planet." Or so it seems to seven year old Daniel McGrew who, in April 1946, begins his odyssey to young manhood in the picturesque village of Bala. Among the 400 souls in the town are the ever inebriated Athol Bentwhistle, cross eyed Fire Chief Noseworthy, and the irascible Principal of the two room schoolhouse Mr. Wiliwack.

Danny and his friends Tommy, Ed, and Fergus are shaped by each other, the town folks, and the Reverend Harry Bickerdyke who is aided by the Bishop of Algoma, in the struggle for their young souls. The beautiful lady teacher Miss Lindisfrom unknowingly tugs the boys in the opposite direction. Daniel is persuaded by the ever smiling Mr. Grimgrin to take on a newspaper route. By walking miles to deliver 7 newspapers each winter day he unconsciously merges with both the local people and the harsh but beautiful Muskoka lake country.

Against the ever present background of the fortunes of the Toronto Maple Leaf hockey team Daniel and his schoolmates survive battles with the summer peoples 'outhouses', encounters with a one armed one legged hockey goalie, and even a 'drownded' man. Dan is accosted by his 'evil cortex' which usurps his voice in debates with Reverend Harry, in which the 'E.C." plays the devils advocate and leaves Dan to face the consequences.

Nothing however prepares Daniel for the impact of a beautiful girl, Eeriau, who arrives to dominate his fifteen year old life. At the end of the rollercoaster summer of 1954 Daniel has learned startling information about himself, about his own family, andabout life. It is no longer 1946. "We had changed."

This is a rollicking good story that is gentle, abrasive, funny, and poignant in turn, but always interesting.
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781438947761
  • Publisher: AuthorHouse
  • Publication date: 5/11/2009
  • Pages: 224
  • Product dimensions: 0.51 (w) x 6.00 (h) x 9.00 (d)

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  • Posted September 29, 2009

    A terrific depiction of growing up in the 50's, 60's. Why aren't they reading books like this in school anymore!

    This book is a hilarious combination of innocence with unintentional sharp as a tack satire on parenting, church and society in general as well as the world from a seven year old's take on life. The story is comprised of four young lads growing up in a small town in Canada beginning with the year 1946.

    With small town characters named, the inebriated Athol Bentwhistle (ex-reporter) is worth the price of the book itself. The world through young Daniel's eyes (aka Meatball or Meaty for short) is a reminder of any reader's youth and stimulates long forgotten memories of one's own.

    As young Daniel continues with this aging process of adolescence it is quite comical how he outgrows playing with live snakes, survives his hilarious conversations and outlook with Reverend Harry and begins the transformation to manhood? I leave it to further readers as to the "Evil Cortex."

    It seems as a quick-witted, young lad; Daniel grows to be quite the romantic at heart. This reader was sorry to see that the story ended at age 16 and look forward to reading where life has lead young Daniel.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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