Vince Vawter

Paperboy pulls readers in from the very first lines and keeps us turning the pages to the end. Told through the eyes of our 11 year old protagonist, we spend the summer of 1959 with him in Memphis, Tennessee. At the heart of the story is the marker that defines his life up to that point, his stutter. He writes authentically about the struggles and pain of growing up with a severe stutter and of the ways he adapts his speech to try and communicate his thoughts to others. But, Vawter show more convincingly conveys the pain and frustrations of our narrator and we, too, are one with his struggles.

As Little Man spends his summer filling in for his best friend, Rat's, paper route, he encounters a cast of characters that challenge his presumptions and view of himself and the world around him. At the end of it all is his Mam, his black housekeeper and nanny, who might understand him best of all, but who also has struggles of her own in the segregated South. Slowly, Little Man begins to see the world around him as it is, with all its pain, suffering, and yearnings, and through it all, he wishes to find a way to truly express how he feels about it, and his own place in it.

Superb writing, compelling and authentic. Grades 4-7. show less

An eleven-year-old boy in Memphis, 1959, takes over his friend's paper route for a month. He's looking forward to the deliveries, but as a boy with a stutter, he's nervous about collecting payment on Fridays and has to navigate that and other challenges that come his way.

The author's note declares that this is "more memoir than fiction", and I think ultimately I would have liked if the author had gone all one way or the other. As it was, I was uncomfortable with the way he portrayed the show more Black characters - one, Miss Nellie whom he called "Mam", was someone who looked after him and disposed wisdom and the other, Ara T, was a no-good, stealing junk man Mam wanted him to stay away from. They speak a sort-of AAVE, and I'm no expert, but the way she used "be" didn't follow the rules of its usage that I've heard, which made me wonder how accurate it was. But since I don't know how much was exactly the author's lived experience and how much was made up, I was just left with this unsettling feeling that he was unconsciously playing into common stereotypes. The story itself, about one month that was transformative in a boy's life, was episodic and occasionally threw in some elements out of left field, though the bones were good. I enjoyed the relationship he forges with Mr. Spiro on his route, in particular, and liked to see the boy's growing confidence in himself, though the stutter never goes away. The representation of the stutter was the best I've ever seen in a book, realistic and addressing some of the common difficult sounds and the techniques the character (and author) could use to work around it. The audiobook, read by Lincoln Hoppe, works especially well for getting the sense of the boy's speech patterns. A mixed bag, but worth the read. show less

s-s-s-s And my soul doesn't s-s-s-s stutter. A short insightful story about growing up and coming to terms with a speech impediment. But there is so much more to be learned and taken away from reading this book about one short summer in Memphis in 1959.

This is a hard book laced with tenderness. The paperboy will pull at your heartstrings as he tries desperately to do the thing that everyone takes for granted. Talk. When his friend Arthur takes a vacation during the summer, he agrees to cover his paper route. That’s what good friends do for one another. The only problem is that he has an awkward stutter, and he is dreading money collection day. In a reversal of fortune, he ends up becoming more than an acquaintance with several of the show more people on his route. Professorial Mr. Spiro, treats him with respect and encourages him to own his disability. Lonely Mrs. Worthington just wants someone to listen. Something he’s good at.

Standing alongside the main story, is that of Mam, the black housekeeper who takes care of the paperboy like he is her own son. The author beautifully captures the setting and voice of late 1950’s Memphis. He peppers the story with examples of racism and gives the paperboy one more philosophical issue to ponder. It all comes down to people being judged for things that have nothing to do with their character or abilities.

One of the things I especially liked was the description of the mechanics of stuttering. He explains what makes certain letters easy or hard and how he is always thinking of synonyms that are easier to say. S is his favorite letter. His name starts with the letter which is hardest for him to say. The author keeps the reader in suspense and doesn’t reveal his name until the end. I find it so sad that he hates his name. Interestingly, the author’s name begins with the same letter.

The plot is as tight as an overwound guitar string. The author keeps the story simple and focused which allows him to pack in the details. The characters are three dimensional. The pre-civil rights setting is described to a tee, exactly as I imagine it. The paperboy has the respectful nature that I imagine southern boys of that time having. It makes me long for those days. I love his innocence, kindness, strength, morality and refusal to be victimized. This boy is a model for boys everywhere.

Librarian’s note: There are two uses of the word “bitch.” One is early on when Mrs. Worthington is drunk and thinks he called her a bitch, when he didn’t. This is followed by an excellent example of character when he writes her a sweet letter apologizing for the misunderstanding. The second is when Mam goes after the neighborhood thief who stole the paperboy’s money and he calls her a bitch. This shows the harshness of the thief’s character and I find it acceptable.

Highly recommended book to promote historical fiction and disability awareness. show less