December 1, 2014
Set in 1895 in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, DeCamp’s exuberant first novel introduces 11-year-old Stan Slater who, readers quickly come to realize, is unknowingly vocalizing some of his rambling thoughts and wild imaginings, saying aloud things better kept to himself. Once readers acclimate to this narrative quirk, they’ll easily become invested in Stan’s story, which begins with him learning that the father he thought was dead is actually just a deadbeat. (Stan, however, remains “pretty sure he’s a rich cowboy or exploring the wilds of North Pole, unable to contact us because of life-or-death matters.”) Because of the family’s precarious financial situation, Stan, his mother, and his acerbic Granny move to a remote logging camp, where Stan becomes convinced a lumberjack named Stinky Pete is a “cold-blooded killer,” clashes with his cousin Geraldine, and is intensely displeased by his mother’s suitors. Vintage images with irreverent captions (ostensibly taken from Stan’s scrapbook) and imagined letters from Stan’s absent father pepper the pages, adding another layer of comedy to Stan’s freewheeling narration. Ages 8–12. Agent: Sarah Davies, Greenhouse Literary Agency.
November 1, 2014
Reality occasionally manages to force its way into a brash young motor mouth's 1895 account of chills and thrills at a remote Michigan logging camp.Scarcely has Stan noted the arrival of fearsomely strict granny Cora than he's being dragged away from his small town to the woods. There, in his mind anyway, loups-garous lurk in the shadows, rough lumberjacks conceal horrific past crimes, and Scary Geri, a slightly older cousin bent on becoming a doctor, waits to "welcome" him. Being both accident-prone and gifted with a hyperactive imagination, Stan falls victim to a string of frights as well as pranks perpetrated by a mysterious mischief-maker. These barely leave him time to pen imaginary letters from his deserter father, absorb the shocking news that his mother has asked for and been granted a divorce, and add wisecrack alterations to the 19th-century ads and other scrapbook clippings that appear here on nearly every spread. DeCamp also saddles Stan with an inability to tell whether he's keeping his frank opinions to himself or muttering them aloud, and since there are no textual cues, he and readers alike tend to find out which at the same time. It's a disorienting device, though Stan's hasty attempts to back and fill add further comedy to his headlong narrative. In the end, it's back to town and school, with suitors welcome or otherwise trailing after his mother. The author saves the identity of the prankster as a final delicious surprise. A knee-slapper of a debut featuring a narrator who is rather less than 99 percent reliable but 100 percent engaging. (Historical fiction. 10-12)
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November 1, 2014
Gr 4-6-Stan, the protagonist of DeCamp's lively and folksy debut novel, lives with his mother in Michigan in the late 1800s when a mysterious envelope arrives that changes their lives. Eleven-year-old Stan (who is literally counting the days until he turns twelve) has always assumed that his "long-lost father" is dead, but with the arrival of the envelope-and Stan's grandmother-he learns that his father is alive. Stan's "near-death" adventures begin when he travels to his uncle's logging camp where his mother and grandmother will cook for "real lumberjacks." With his cousin Geri (older than Stan by "twenty-three months and three days") as his guide, Stan navigates life with a group of colorful characters, using vivid language to describe the loggers and his campaign for his mother's permission to participate in the annual logrolling event. While Stan helps with chores, forms friendships with the loggers, and feels uneasy about the interest several men express in his mother, his rich imagination finds an outlet in the scrapbook he fills with magazine ads and clippings, copies of which are scattered throughout the novel. More poignant is the life Stan imagines his father having while waiting for his young son to find him. "I imagine he's out in the world doing something amazing, like mining gold or riding through the Wild West on horseback," Stan thinks. A secondary plot about Geri's interest in becoming a doctor enriches the story. Stan is a likable character with an exaggerated view of his abilities and a good heart. DeCamp's novel is a solid choice for fans of Rodman Philbrick's The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg (Scholastic, 2009).-Shelley Sommer, Inly School, Scituate, MA
Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
April 15, 2015
Grades 4-6 After a mysterious letter arrives in the mail, Stan, his mother, and his mean old grandmother are whisked off to a logging camp, where Stan's mother has a new job. When Stan learns that his dearly departed father isn't dead but long lost, Stan is sure he's going to find him at the logging camp. Armed with his scrapbook, Stan has an arsenal of evidence attesting to his bravery while acting as man of the house, which he's sure will impress his father. For starters, he's been keeping an eye on a lumberjack he's positive is a murderer, eluding his tricky cousin Geri, and surviving his evil granny. Stan is one for a tall tale, and his story is full of his hilarious misunderstandings and overactive imagination. Interspersed throughout are pictures and news clippings from Stan's scrapbook, embellished with wisecrack remarks, speech bubbles, and the occasional mustache, which will stick a smile on any reader's face. Stan's ridiculous tales are recommended for libraries where humorous historical adventures are popular.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)