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It's 1964 in idyllic Zephyr, Alabama. People either work for the paper mill up the Tecumseh River, or for the local dairy. It's a simple life, but it stirs the impressionable imagination of twelve-year-old aspiring writer Cory Mackenson. He's certain he's sensed spirits whispering in the churchyard. He's heard of the weird bootleggers who lurk in the dark outside of town. He's seen a flood leave Main Street crawling with snakes. Cory thrills to all of it as only a young boy can.
Then one morning, while accompanying his father on his milk route, he sees a car careen off the road and slowly sink into fathomless Saxon's Lake. His father dives into the icy water to rescue the driver, and finds a beaten corpse, naked and handcuffed to the steering wheel—a copper wire tightened around the stranger's neck. In time, the townsfolk seem to forget all about the unsolved murder. But Cory and his father can't.
Their search for the truth is a journey into a world where innocence and evil collide. What lies before them is the stuff of fear and awe, magic and madness, fantasy and reality. As Cory wades into the deep end of Zephyr and all its mysteries, he'll discover that while the pleasures of childish things fade away, growing up can be a strange and beautiful ride.
"Strongly echoing the childhood-elegies of King and Bradbury, and every bit their equal," Boy's Life, a winner of both the Bram Stoker and World Fantasy Awards, represents a brilliant blend of mystery and rich atmosphere, the finest work of one of today's most accomplished writers (Kirkus Reviews).
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Creators
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Publisher
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Awards
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Release date
October 18, 2011 -
Formats
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781453231562
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781453231562
- File size: 2716 KB
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Languages
- English
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Levels
- Lexile® Measure: 780
- Text Difficulty: 3-4
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Reviews
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July 29, 1991
McCammon ( Swan Song ; Mine ) hangs this expertly told episodic tale on the bones of a skeleton that becomes symbolic of evil doings in the quiet waters of small-town life. Twelve-year-old Cory Mackenson is assisting his father, Tom, with predawn milk deliveries when a car shoots across the road and plunges into ``bottomless'' Lake Saxon. Diving to the rescue, Tom finds a nude, beaten and strangled corpse handcuffed to the steering wheel of the sinking car. Cory glimpses a sinister figure watching from the edge of the woods but discovers only an odd green feather at the spot. The ensuing search for the killer proves to be a rite of passage for both Cory and his father. Set in fictional Zephyr, Ala., in pre-civil rights 1964, this evocative novel is successful on more than one level. The mystery will satisfy the most finicky aficionado; McCammon has also produced a boisterous, poignant travelogue through a stormy season in one boy's life, peopled with the zaniest, most memorable Southern characters since those of Harper Lee. -
August 25, 2003
Both a mystery that will satisfy the most finicky aficionado and a boisterous travelogue through a stormy season in a 12-year-old's life, this novel follows a boy and his father as they seek a killer in 1964 Alabama.
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