As Ever, Gordy

by Mary Downing Hahn Narrated by Tiffany Morgan

Overview

Gordy couldn't be more unhappy about moving back to his hometown of College Hill, where everybody knows his family's troubled history. In North Carolina, Gordy's life had finally seemed to be on the right track. But in College Hill, Gordy and his sister, June, move into a cramped apartment with their brother Stu and his new family. The principal at Gordy's school immediately has it in for him, his old pals encourage him to cause trouble, and his one-time nemesis, Elizabeth, hates him more than ever. It seems to Gordy as though the whole world is against him. Will he slip back into his old trouble-making ways for good, or will he be able to keep growing into the successful person he was striving to become?

Editorial Reviews

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-This sequel to Stepping on the Cracks (1991) and Following My Own Footsteps (1996, both Clarion) continues Gordy Smith's story. After the death of their grandmother in North Carolina, with whom they had been living since their abusive, alcoholic father was arrested, 13-year-old Gordy and his younger sister return to College Hill, MD, to stay with their married older brother Stu. Under his grandmother's firm but loving hand, Gordy had begun to turn his life around. Unfortunately, everyone in College Hill remembers him as a bully. As his anger over his grandmother's death and his new living conditions surfaces, he falls back into his old ways--underachieving in school and playing mischievous pranks. He also finds himself the object of teasing by classmates Margaret and Elizabeth. Perhaps because Gordy is so caught up in his personal problems, it takes much of the book for him to realize that he is attracted to Elizabeth. In the end, they begin a positive relationship. Although Hahn attempts to flesh out the book's post-World War II setting, it is barely evident. Slang words such as "chump" and "dames" and period details such as Frank Sinatra and Hank Williams do not re-create the time for today's children. Readers who already know these characters will be interested in what happens to them, but those meeting Gordy for the first time may not find the book as compelling.-Ellen Fader, Multnomah County Library, Portland, OR

Kirkus Reviews

An eighth grader finds that his tough-guy persona doesn't fit as well as it used to in Hahn's third book about the fragmented Smith family (Stepping On The Cracks, 1991; Following My Own Footsteps, 1996). After his grandmother's sudden death, Gordy has to move back to the hated Maryland town in which he grew up. Discovering that the intervening two years have done little to dim his family's white-trash reputation, and that his ne'er-do-well friends, Doug and Toad, haven't changed, Gordy slips back into his old troublemaking ways. The role begins to chafe, however, when he develops a yen for old rival LizþLizzy the LizardþCrawford, and learns that his abusive father and reform-school- graduate older brother aren't the best role models when it comes to human relations. Hahn expertly shows how the expectations of others influence Gordy's behavior, as he struggles to step away from his bad old self; in the end he takes that step, though not without a realistic amount of backsliding. To Gordy's surprise and pleasure, Elizabeth is willing to meet him half way. While Gordy's anger is the dominant feeling here, flashes of humor and deftly inserted historical details of the postþWW II era lighten the load. (Fiction. 10-13)

From the Publisher

"Hahn expertly shows how the expectations of others influence Gordy's behavior, as he struggles to step away from his bad old self; in the end he takes that step, though not without a realistic amount of backsliding….While Gordy's anger is the dominant feeling here, flashes of humor and deftly inserted historical details of the postWW II era lighten the load."—Kirkus Reviews —

Product Details

BN ID:	2940192504628
Publisher:	Tantor Audio
Publication date:	07/30/2024
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

Read an Excerpt

Just about the time I thought my life was going pretty well, something happened that changed everything. I should have seen it coming, sensed it in the air the way you smell smoke before you see fire, but I had no inkling. None at all.

As a matter of fact, when the news came, I was in English class, staring out the window as if I had forever to sit there studying clouds. Mr. Isaacson stood at the blackboard, showing us how to diagram sentences. Like most grammar lessons, it bored me to death, but not my friend William. He wrote down everything Mr. Isaacson said. That's how William was-too smart for his own good. Later I'd copy his notes, but I had better things to think about now-the way Nancy Jean Allen's hair curled on the back of her neck, the Friday basketball game, the war movie I hoped to see at the Palace on Saturday, maybe with Nancy Jean.

Just as Mr. Isaacson fit a participle into the diagram, someone knocked on the door. Like everybody else, I stopped what I was doing and watched Mr. Isaacson go into a huddle with the school secretary. Suddenly they both stared right at me. A couple of kids noticed. William turned around in his seat, a worried look on his face, but Billy Brown grinned and ran a finger across his throat. The whole class, including me, thought I was in trouble. But for the life of me, I couldn't think of a single bad thing I'd done recently.

"Gordy," Mr. Isaacson said, "you'd better get your books and go to the office with Miss Spurles."

I It wasn't what he said that scared me but the way he said it. His voice was soft and low, not a speck of anger in it, and his face was sorrowful. The whole class watched me stand up. Nobody wasgrinning now. Like me, they knew this was serious business.

I walked down the hall beside Miss Spurles, wanting to ask her what was wrong but too scared to open my mouth. Suppose June had been hit by a car on her way to school? Suppose my big brother Donny had wrecked that old jalopy he was so proud of? Worst of all, suppose my father was waiting in the principal's office, come all the way from California to tell me Mama was sick and needed me?

At the door to Mr. Nelson's office, Miss Spurles paused and laid her hand on my shoulder. "I'm afraid it's bad news, Gordy,' she said in a low voice. 'And I want you to know I'm real sorry about it.'

I nodded and swallowed hard. Mr. Nelson was standing behind his desk, looking at me with sad eyes like everyone else. Slowly I walked a little closer and stopped in front of him, dreading to hear what he had to say. At least the old man wasn't anywhere in sight.

Mr. Nelson cleared his throat, like he'd lost his voice and was trying to find it. "Gordy," he said, "I got a call from your neighbor a few minutes ago." He paused to clear his throat again. "Mrs. Sullivan told me Your grandmother was taken to the hospital this morning. A heart attack, she said."

For all the sense I could make of what Mr. Nelson was saying, he might as well have been speaking German or Italian. Strange as it sounds, I'd never once thought the bad news had anything to do with Grandma.

"There must be some mistake," I said, swallowing the cold lump in my throat. "Grandma was fine when I left for school, she couldn't have had a heart attack, she's as strong as horse, she, she-why, she-"

My voice ran on and on all by itself. I swear my brain had shut down like I'd thrown a switch or blown a fuse.

When I finally stopped babbling, Mr. Nelson said, "Your brother Donny is on his way to get you. He should be here any minute now." He cleared his throat again. 'I'm truly sorry, Gordy. Mrs. Aitcheson was a fine woman. We taught together for many years before she retired. I admired her more than I can say."

Though it worried me, I didn't dare ask Mr. Nelson why he'd said Grandma was a fine woman. I'd convinced myself Grandma was in the hospital but not too bad off. Soon she'd be home. In the meantime, I'd look after June and keep the house tidy. Maybe I'd buy Grandma some flowers or candy. Chocolates were her biggest weakness-once she started eating them, she just couldn't stop. I figured I had enough allowance left to get her a big fancy box of her favorites.

I was thinking about the chocolates when Donny showed up. Slinging one arm around my shoulders, he gave me a fast hug, something he never did, and hustled me out of school.

"Hurry up," he said. "I told Mrs. Sullivan I'd bring you to her house. June's already there."

I slid into the front seat beside my brother, smelling the familiar smells of old leather and cigarette smoke. "When are we going to the hospital to see Grandma?"

Donny stopped fooling with the ignition and stared at me. "Didn't they tell you?"

The cold lump I'd choked down in Nelson's office came back, filling my throat like an ice cube I'd swallowed without meaning to. "Grandma had a heart attack, she's in the hospital, but she'll be home soon," I said, stringing the words together as fast as I could. "I hope she doesn't feel too bad to eat chocolate. Maybe we could stop on the way to the hospital and pick up some at the drugstore. She likes those big fancy boxes, the ones with lots of different kinds. Her favorites have nuts in the middle, she always eats those first, then she-"

"Gordy, for God's sake! " Donny yelled. "Shut up and listen to me. Grandma's dead. She died on the way to the hospital!"...