Beekman's Big Deal

by Michael de Guzman

Overview

Beekman O'Day has lived all of his twelve years in Manhattan. He's lived in fourteen different apartments, hotel rooms and hotels. He's been to nine different schools. When he has to move once again, and start a new school, he puts his foot down with his father, who makes his living making dubious deals. No more moving. No more new schools. They make a deal. A big deal. Then the deal becomes a big mess and Beekman must stand his ground or lose what he's been fighting for, including the affection of his best friend's twin sister. In the end he takes a stand and refuses to budge. He won't give up. A deal is a deal.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781480284227
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	11/29/2012
Pages:	174
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	610L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Michael de Guzman has written six novels for young readers. Beekman's Big Deal with his second. Prior to writing books, he wrote scripts for television movies. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

Read an Excerpt

Beekman's Big Deal

---

By de Guzman, Michael

Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR)

Copyright © 2004 de Guzman, Michael
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0374306729

---

A note from the author

I started writing books for young readers when I turned sixty (I wrote scripts for television movies for twenty years). I don't know why, except that it occurred to me I could write what I wanted, the way I wanted, for a demanding audience that would accept nothing less than the best work a writer had to offer.
When I was a kid, there was the world the way it was and the world the way I wanted it to be. That's how I still see it. My characters are innocents. They are romantics. They are bright and tough and they see a thing through. How else can a kid survive?

From Beekman's Big Deal

Beekman didn't think that an interview with yet another new school qualified as a big day. Especially when the fall term had already started. Four days ago. But he kept this to himself. He'd been to too many schools to make an issue of it.
"Think big, live big," Leo said.
"Think small, live small," Beekman said.
"Now you're talking," Leo said. He started singing "Over the Rainbow."
Beekman washed his hair, which was brown and grew in several directions at once and fell forward over his forehead, no matter how much effort he put into training it. He soaped his body. There wasn't an ounce of fat on him. His rib cage looked like a section of bumpyroad. He thought that a truly big day would be one in which absolutely nothing happened.


Continues...

---

Excerpted from Beekman's Big Deal by de Guzman, Michael Copyright © 2004 by de Guzman, Michael. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

---

Editorial Reviews

As he did in Melonhead, de Guzman introduces a sympathetic, quirky protagonist, this one wishing not so much to fit in as to stay in-that is, stay put in both his school and home situation. Since the big business deal long promised by Beekman O'Day's widower father, Leo, has not materialized, the two have had to change Manhattan residences frequently. The 12-year-old has attended many private schools, forced to leave each when Leo fails to come up with tuition. Despite being victimized by a sneaky bully, Beekman gradually settles into his latest school (dubbed "Last Chance Academy"), where he makes an unlikely friend whose twin sister catches the hero's fancy. And the boy is thrilled with the small house his father finds on a private mews, surrounded by delightfully eccentric neighbors (including an "extremely good-looking" woman who's handy with tools, and a cross-dresser who impersonates Streisand). When Leo's optimism fizzles and he admits to Beekman that "not even the little deals" have worked out and he's not likely to come up with tuition or rent, the boy digs in his heels and makes a "deal" of his own-to remain right where he is. The author brings this tale to a satisfying denouement, wisely avoiding a tidy wrap-up (it's still not clear how Leo is going to pay tuition or whether he'll find a reliable job). De Guzman strikes a good balance between humor and pathos, creates some memorable characters and depicts an affecting father-son bond. Ages 10-up. (Oct.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 5-8-An uplifting story about a boy who follows his heart and finally finds a home. By seventh grade, Beekman O'Day has attended nine different private schools in Manhattan, moving every time yet another of his father's business deals falls through. The boy has learned not to allow himself to get too attached to apartments, schools, or people, because he knows he will have to leave them. Then things change: the boy and his father move to Nutting Court, a neighborly little street with a cast of quirky, delightful characters; Beekman enrolls in Chance Academy, a demanding school with a caring principal; and, finally, though he tries not to, he makes a friend and even develops a crush. When his father tells him that they must move again, Beekman refuses and desperately tries to figure out a way to stay put. That's when their fortune-telling neighbor, Madam de Campo, steps in and explains that the houses on Nutting Court belong to a trust run by the residents. They like Beekman and his dad, so they will allow Mr. O'Day to buy the house and pay as he is able. Featuring interesting, well-developed characters and sprinkled with gentle humor, this novel strikes a pleasing balance between heart-wrenching and heartwarming moments, and provides a happily ever after ending.-Laurie von Mehren, Cuyahoga County Public Library, Brecksville, OH Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Twelve-year-old New Yorker Beekman O'Day has lived in 14 different homes and attended nine schools. He and Leo, his charming wheeler-dealer of a single dad, keep moving when the going and the finances get tough. Now they've landed in a mews apartment with eccentric neighbors, and Beekman's enrolled in a school he almost likes and where he's made an enemy and, despite his best efforts, a best friend with a very likable sister. No way does he want to move yet again. He needs to make the biggest deal of his life-to stay put. Will this work out, unlike his father's usual deals? Readers will turn the pages to find out. Though the ending's pat, kids won't care, but they will care about Beekman and Leo, whose relationship is wonderfully close, funny, and real. You could say this story is a big deal. (Fiction. 10+)

Kirkus Reviews