Little Man, an eleven-year-old living in Memphis in 1959, throws the meanest fastball in town. But talking is a whole different ball game. He can barely say a word without stuttering—not even his own name. So when he takes over his best friend’s paper route for the month of July, he knows he'll be forced to communicate with the customers, including a housewife who drinks too much and a retired merchant marine who seems to know just about everything.
The paper route poses challenges, but it's a run-in with the neighborhood junkman, a bully and thief, that stirs up real trouble—and puts the boy's life, as well as that of his family's devoted housekeeper, in danger.
A beautifully textured coming-of-age novel that unfolds against the backdrop of the segregated South, Paperboy offers a moving and page-turning story of a boy and his struggle to speak.
*"Reminiscent of To Kill a Mockingbird." —Booklist, Starred
“[Vawter’s] characterization of Little Man feels deeply authentic, with . . . his fierce desire to be ‘somebody instead of just a kid who couldn’t talk right.’” —The Washington Post
“Paperboy offers a penetrating look at both the mystery and the daily frustrations of stuttering. People of all ages will appreciate this positive and universal story.” —Jane Fraser, president of the Stuttering Foundation of America
*“[A] tense, memorable story.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred
“An engaging and heartfelt presentation that never whitewashes the difficult time and situation as Little Man comes of age.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Vawter portrays a protagonist so true to a disability that one cannot help but empathize with the difficult world of a stutterer.” —School Library Journal
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