Swear to Howdy

Slim and powerful, describing a rambunctious joy in a rural summer. The boy's display a loose-limbed exuberance, and the suspicious, slightly hostile, slightly conspiratorial relationship between the boys and their sisters is hilarious and spot-on. The tragic turns feel authentic and not overly-dramatized.

Narrated by Jeff Woodman. When Rusty moves to his new neighborhood, he meets Joey Banks. Joey is a natural leader, coming up with outrageous ideas for pranks and fighting his way out of hilarious scrapes. When situations go awry, Joey and Rusty "swear to howdy" and exchange blood in a promise that they won't ever tell anyone what happened. A midnight prank to frighten drivers goes tragically wrong when Joey's sister is killed in an accident. The secret eats away at the boys and eventually Rusty must step up and tell the truth in order to save Joey's life.

My class really enjoyed this story for read-aloud. Their attention was captured from the first chapter! It really tied into our "Celebrate life" week at school. While the ending is very sad and gets "real" fast, it is still a funny, entertaining, and worthy read for any class.

Thank you, friend 'smalls,' for recommending this. I'm so glad I finally got around to reading it. Perfect for male reluctant readers age 10-13, great for everyone else. Would be great for family or classroom discussion.

Yes, it's about what it means to be a true friend. It's also about courage. Almost everyone in the book acts courageously at one time or another. And the few that don't, well, they show us the consequences of cowardice.

Awesome and funny at most parts example of a great friendship

Great story about the friendship and antics of two young boys and how the trouble they get into while trying to have fun.

The two boys and their rural summer adventures didn't grab me.