The Madman of Piney Woods

by Christopher Paul Curtis

Overview

In this poignant companion to Elijah of Buxton, two boys united by tragedy find friendship and adventure in the Canadian woods.

Benji and Red couldn’t be more different. They aren’t friends. They don’t even live in the same town. But their fates are entwined. A chance meeting leads the boys to discover that they have more in common than meets the eye. Both of them have encountered a strange presence in the forest, watching them, tracking them. Could the Madman of Piney Woods be real?

In a tale brimming with intrigue and adventure, Christopher Paul Curtis returns to the vibrant world he brought to life in Elijah of Buxton. Here is another novel that will break your heart—and expand it, too.

This critically acclaimed story by National Book Award finalist Christopher Paul Curtis joins the Scholastic Gold line, which features award-winning and beloved novels. Includes extra bonus content!

Praise for The Madman of Piney Woods

“Humor and tragedy are often intertwined, and readers will find themselves sobbing and chuckling, sometimes in the same scene.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

“A delight, featuring the author’s obvious love for his characters, his skillful use of sentiment, and his often hyperbolic humor.” —Booklist, Starred Review

“Heady stuff. Funny stuff. Smart stuff. Good stuff. Better get your hands on this stuff.” —School Library Journal

“So suspenseful . . . Curtis deftly makes what might have been simply heart-rending hopeful and redeeming instead . . . A thrill ride of a plot.” —TheNew York Times

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780545633765
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	08/17/2022
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	389
File size:	18 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Christopher Paul Curtis was awarded both a Newbery Honor and a Coretta Scott King Honor for his debut book, The Watsons Go to Birmingham -- 1963, and won the Newbery Medal and the Coretta Scott King Award for his second book, Bud, Not Buddy. Mr. Curtis is also the author of the Golden Kite Award-winning Bucking the Sarge, as well as Mr. Chickee's Funny Money, Mr. Chickee's Messy Mission, and the Newbery Honor book Elijah of Buxton.

Read an Excerpt

From THE MADMAN OF PINEY WOODSAs a cold shiver ran through my body and heat flushed through my face, I quickly lost my courage and forgot all about leaping through the picture window. Even more shamefully, I also forgot about my heroic plan to grab Benji and escape with him. Knocking over the chair I had been pretending I was going to sit in, all I could manage to do was run toward the kitchen and shout, "Oh, Benji! Please! For the love of God, run!" I can only imagine the confused look that must have come to Father's face when Benji hollered over his shoulder, "Thank you very much for having me over for supper, sir, the conversation was stimulating, your company was exhilarating, and that was one of the finest meals I've ever had!" Benji jostled past me as we ran through the kitchen and spilled out onto the back porch. "Keep running!" I yelled. "Don't listen to anything she says, she's very confused!" Three blocks from home, just outside of the funeral parlour I grabbed the back of Benji's jacket and pulled him to a stop. I leaned over, put my hands on my knees, and gasped to him, "I'm fairly certain we're safe. I don't think she can run this far." "You don't think who can run this far? Who are we running from?" "Grandmother O'Toole!" "Who?" "My mother's mother." "Your grandmother? We're running like this from your grandmother?"

Editorial Reviews

08/01/2014
Gr 4–6—This companion novel to Elijah of Buxton(Scholastic, 2007), set 40 years after its conclusion, is a powerful testimony to the joys of friendship and the cost of unresolved hatred. The lingering effects of prejudice and unbelievable hardship weigh heavily in the lives of Benji, the descendant of American slaves, and Red, the grandson of an Irish immigrant to Canada. A chance meeting at a forensics competition brings these two different boys together; their initial conversation, in which they talk about their physical differences, is awkwardly charming and sincere. Although their communities are different, they have both grown up with the legend of a crazed former slave, a hermit called "The Madman of Piney Woods." Their friendship is complicated by the fact that Red's grandmother is extremely racist and fearful. The strong father-son relationship between Red and his father is tenderly and honestly created. Relationships between family and friends are realistically complicated, changing, and complex. The horror of Ireland's potato famine, the "coffin ships" that carried Grandmother O'Toole to Canada, and the prejudice faced by Irish-Canadians are brutally brought to life, as is the constant tension felt by the few remaining original settlers of Buxton. Although occasionally somber and heartbreaking, there is great humor, hope, and adventure from Benji and Red. The conclusion may be less powerful if readers are not familiar with Elijah, but it is stunning nonetheless. An author's note on the inspiration and creation of the story is included.—Jennifer Schultz, Fauquier County Public Library, Warrenton, VA

School Library Journal

Rarely have I read a children's book so suspenseful that it's made me worry about being stranded in the weeds with the bleak, hateful aspects of human nature. But Christopher Paul Curtis's The Madman of Piney Woods did just that. Again and again, I doubted that what would happen next would be O.K. for young and old readers alike. Yet at every turn of this middle-grade novel…Curtis deftly makes what might have been simply heart-rending hopeful and redeeming instead.

The New York Times Book Review - Jervey Tervalon

07/07/2014
In 1901, Benji Alston lives in Buxton, Ont., a real-life town settled by abolitionists and runaway slaves (and the setting of Curtis’s Newbery Honor–winning Elijah of Buxton). Alvin “Red” Stockard, son of an Irish immigrant and a local judge, resides in nearby Chatham. The woods of the title connect the two towns, and both boys have grown up hearing cautionary tall tales about a wild boogeyman who lives there. Writing in his customary episodic style, Curtis relates their separate stories in alternating chapters, incorporating a large cast, his trademark humor and gritty hijinks, and the historical events that shaped the people and the area: slavery, the U.S. Civil War, and Irish immigration. It takes more than half the book for the boys—both 13—and their stories to connect, which may try the patience of some readers. Those who persist, though, will be rewarded with an update on what became of Elijah, the hero of the first book, as Curtis delivers an ending that ties together the two stories, set 40 years apart, in a poignant and powerful way. Ages 8–12. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Curtis deftly makes what might have been simply heart-rending hopeful and redeeming instead... a pleasure to read." — New York Times Book Review* "A delight, featuring the author's obvious love for his characters, his skillful use of sentiment, and his often hyperbolic humor... quintessential Curtis." — Booklist, starred review* "A journey of revelation and insight... profoundly moving yet also at times very funny." — Horn Book Magazine, starred review* "Beautiful storytelling as only Curtis can do it." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review* "Curtis masterfully interweaves goofy family vignettes, memorable characters, and thought-provoking themes into a page-turner with appeal to multiple audiences and tastes." — Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review"Poignant and powerful." — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

Curtis returns to early-twentieth-century Canada in this companion novel to ELIJAH OF BUXTON. In alternating chapters, JD Jackson voices Benji, an aspiring reporter and lover of the woods, and Kirby Heyborne voices Red, an Irish boy who lives in neighboring Chatham. Both narrators deliver the boys’ self-assuredness with relish, as well as their fear of encountering the “Madman of Piney Woods,” but they shine most in the voices of the adult characters. Jackson terrifies listeners by detachedly recounting the horrors of the Civil War as the Madman. Heyborne delivers a pitch-perfect Irish accent in the voice of Grandmother O’Toole.The care in both portrayals brings depth to Curtis’s theme of the varying ways hardships can shape or damage human beings. E.M.C. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine

OCTOBER 2014 - AudioFile

★ 2014-06-10
Forty years after Elijah Freeman’s exploits in Elijah of Buxton (2007), 13-year-olds Benji Alston and Red Stockard become friends as Curtis revisits Buxton, Ontario, in a fine companion novel.Benji and Red don’t meet for 200 pages, their separate lives in 1901 related in alternating first-person narratives. Benji, an African-Canadian boy in Buxton, and Red, a white boy of Irish descent living in nearby Chatham, have fairly ordinary and free lives. Benji dreams of becoming the best newspaperman in North America; Red mostly wants to survive his crazy Grandmother O’Toole. Echoes of history underlie the tale: Benji lives in a community settled by former slaves; Red is the grandson of a woman haunted by the Irish Potato Famine and the horrors of coffin ships on the St. Lawrence River. Both boys know the legend of a mysterious creature in the woods, called the Madman of Piney Woods by Benji, the South Woods Lion Man by Red. And, indeed, this “madman” and his woods ultimately tie the whole story together in a poignant and life-affirming manner. Humor and tragedy are often intertwined, and readers will find themselves sobbing and chuckling, sometimes in the same scene. Though this story stands alone, it will be even more satisfying for those who have read Elijah of Buxton.Beautiful storytelling as only Curtis can do it. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 9-13)

Kirkus Reviews