Stanley James

Overview

If you can imagine Huckleberry Finn crossed with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, then you have a sense of what Stanley James has to offer. This satirically humorous, occasionally dark, but always intensely human novel will trigger every familiar emotion and may even awaken some that are dormant. It is so engaging that it comes with a warning, but few readers will be able to stop reading before they are swept away and changed by this incredible story of a learning disabled boy. While Stanley James masquerades as an innocent story, this account of children enrolled in a new Catholic school during the postwar years of American confidence is not a naive tale. Stanley James is born December 21, 1950, in Alexandria, Minnesota, where progress is an article of faith, and the new middle class lives in homogenous homes on tree-named streets. Marring the optimism of this small town are whispers of damaged children, of inappropriate miracles and of other unmentionable imperfections. One of the flawed children is Stanley James, another is the narrator. The narrator is Stanley James's best friend and cousin. They and a number of other kids are imperfect children - damaged little souls that don't quite meet the expectations of this idyllic small town. At Saint Mary's Catholic school they are gathered up, labeled "retarded," and neatly packed away in the Ungraded Room, where they are entrusted to Sister Mary Ann. Like the God of the Old Testament, Sister Mary Ann is powerful, aloof and dedicated to justice. She will never punish a child who doesn't deserve it, but she will never miss an opportunity to do so. At Saint Mary's school various mysteries unfold. A fire is set in the church - and of coursesuspicion falls on the Protestants. "We think it must be the Protestant boys, the boys who call us 'Cat-Lickers,'" suggests one of the Catholic schoolboys. "Or my dad said it could even be grown up men. They burn nigger churches in the South, and maybe they want to burn ours, too. The Protestants are always planning to kill us, you know," another boy pronounces with absolute certainty. Stanley James's father is a Protestant, and not even a Lutheran; he is one of those really bad ones, a Presbyterian. His mother is a devout Catholic. Even as suspicion falls on him, he defends his father's character. Then "dirty pictures" start to appear; they are drawn in black crayon. These drawings of a man with a big wiener and a small something - or someone - scribbled in the corner of the sheet continue to show up. One is even taped to the statue of Mary. While the story focuses on three "retards" - Stanley, Dave and the narrator - others play major roles in this savory stew of human emotions. Various events contribute to the reader's understanding of the character of the retards, the kids from the regular room, and the adults that populate their world. Among the defective children in the Upgraded Room are - Jimmy, a boy who is most often off in a world of his own; Robert, a tough kid who once lived in the projects; and George Ann, a bipolar basket case. Tommy, not a retard, but the most popular boy in the regular room, is not what he appears to be. He alone understands that, while he appears to be the perfect boy, he too is defective. As Stanley James and the boys smoke stolen cigarettes in secret places, they try to solve theological, ethical, and pragmatic problems. While the manner of their speech is naively simplistic, the conversations provide profound and disturbing insights into complex spiritual issues. Surely many of Stanley's thought are heretical, but are they more coherent than society's' orthodox truths? Adults also populate their world. Officer Beecher, the Boy Scout leader, church usher, and young cop helps out at school as a tutor. He is the man that Stanley and every boy wants his father to be. Mr. Pearson is the playground volunteer, a powerful horsing-around type guy. Father Reed is the shy priest, while Monsignor Ward is warm and confident. And, of course, the boys' own parents and townspeople round out the cast. When Stanley James receives a quarter for serving as an altar boy at the funeral of an unwed mother's baby, he resolves to spend it to light a votive candle for her. His friend Dave warns him that it might be a sin to light a candle for a tramp, but he does it anyway. Later, the unwed mother, Mindy, sees an image of the Virgin Mary in her trailer. The appearance of the Madonna of the Trailer Park leads to "miracles" of sorts. Mindy begins wearing modest dresses and covers her hair with a scarf neatly tied behind her neck. The nuns are embarrassed that she might be mistaken for a novitiate. When Mindy wants to volunteer at the school they are horrified. Her services are refused. But when Mindy predicts the Russians will turn back during the Cuban Missile Crisis, some women and secretly some men begin to believe, and to pray for other miracles. During the school's long-awaited Olympic Day, Stanley James guides the children into discovering a joy greater than any athletic victory. But his leadership conflicts with the laws of human nature, Godly society and the all important rules. At this point, the novel becomes impossible to put down. The reader is now on an emotional bungee jump, tossed between despair and bliss, fear and relief, until he comes to an epiphany with a full understanding of the significance of the story. Clyde Henry's extraordinary novel, Stanley James, is the story of a hero that you will never be able to forget. Once you meet him he will live in your heart forever.