Skeeter

by Kay Jordan Smith

Overview

Two boys learn about hunting and themselves when they befriend an elderly black woodsman.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780395616215
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/20/1992
Edition description:	REISSUE
Pages:	216
Product dimensions:	5.12(w) x 7.62(h) x (d)
Lexile:	680L (what's this?)
Age Range:	12 Years

Editorial Reviews

"This is a warm rite-of-passage novel that shows not only the growing understanding by the boys of what Skeeter has endured by being black in the South but also the breaking down of the walls the boys have built around themselves." VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates) —

From the Publisher

Two boys, exuberant Joey and quiet, intuitive Steve, hope to enhance their hunting skills through practice. They stumble upon the best hunting terrain in the area, which belongs to Skeeter Hawkins. Skeeter catches the boys trespassing but does not live up to his reputation as an ornery recluse. Instead, he invites Joey and Steve back and, when they return, teaches them the strange but successful techniques for bagging the big one. They are inspired to carve after seeing the expert carving on Skeeter's guns. And they learn about girl-boy relationships as well as the art of training a good hunting dog. While the plot is exciting and emotionally charged, it is also annoying and unrealistic. For example, these two teenage boys speak unnaturally perfect English, in extreme contrast to Skeeter's Black dialect. And the cursory attempt to deal with the real issues of prejudice, death and personal relationships is bogged down in a morass of stereotypical incidents. Ages 10-14. (Apr . )

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Gr 7 Up-- That good intentions are more often admirable than attainable is demonstrated by Smith in her first novel, Skeeter. Her intention--to write about the education in compassion and racial understanding of two white teenage boys in rural Tennessee--is eminently admirable but, since her ability does not match the ambition of her intention, ultimately unattainable. This is not the fault of her fictional ``teacher,'' the elderly black man, Skeeter, who is a sympathetic, multi-dimensional character. By teaching Joey and Steve to shoot and hunt and by telling them the history of his own long life, which mirrors the long march of his people to equality and social justice, Skeeter succeeds in demonstrating that friendship, human dignity, and individual worth transcend superficial considerations of skin color. The problem, in dramatic terms, is that his students seem already educated when he meets them. Both boys are already compassionate, understanding, and well mannered. And if Steve, who will become Skeeter's surrogate son, is initially uncomfortable in the old man's presence, this seems more a product of adolescent awkwardness than prejudice. An even larger problem is that Smith tells readers more than she shows them. It is not enough to tell them that Joey and Steve have changed, and there is no demonstration of this change through the accretion of dramatic incident. Despite good intentions, well-realized characters and setting--and a formidable knowledge of guns and hunting-- Skeeter ultimately becomes simply a didactic exercise. --Michael Cart, Beverly Hills Pub . Lib .

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