2010-05-31

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

A boy lives with his grandmother and grandfather after his mother disappears. What would you do if it happened to you?

Woodrow is a young boy who is the age of twelve, but doesn't know what day he was born, because his mother had him on the brink of midnight on New Years Eve. When he moves to his grandmother and grandfather's house, he is reunited with his cousin who shows him around town. She shows him she cares, and they try to solve the mystery of his mother's disappearance together.

I really liked this book because the young girl really learns new things about the other side of her family.

I would recommend this to older kids because the younger kids might be scared to find out a mother disappeared. -- Tayler

Book Worm Mom 2010-01-19

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

I enjoyed the characters, especially when they told jokes. I felt sorry for Woodrow and his family, and I guess that was the author's point. I liked the way she tied everything up in the end, specifically Gypsy's nightmare and Belle's disappearance. Well-worth the Newbery honor.

Susan Defazio 2008-12-01

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

A Newbery Honor, Belle Prater's Boy by Ruth White (Yearling, 1996) tells the tale of Gypsy and Woodrow, two cousins trying to understand why they were both left by one of their parents. The bond that is shared between the two cousins intensifies as both try to shield one another from the harsh and sad facts of the disappearance of their parent. Gypsy, a vivacious and beautiful girl, is haunted by nightmares of faceless dead animals every night, and Woodrow, a clever and smart boy, is constantly fending off suspicions and questions from nosy classmates and neighbors on the mysterious disappearance of his mother. Spanning a year in time, the novel demonstrates how not only their friendship blossoms, but how much Gypsy and Woodrow grow up as they learn to come to terms with the loss of their parents.

Rebecca L. Pollino 2008-11-18

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The year is 1953, and Belle Prater has gone missing. However, no clues seem to exist that may help to trace Belle Prater's whereabouts. This is the mystery which lays the foundation for the Newbury Honor Award-winning Belle Prater's Boy (Yearling, 1996) by Ruth White. When Woodrow, the son of Belle Prater, goes to live in Coal Station, Virginia with his grandparents after his mother's disappearance on account of his father's unhealthy living conditions, he becomes close friends with his cousin Gypsy, who also has experienced the loss of a parent -her father -early on in life. Next to pretty, golden-haired Gypsy, Woodrow appears awkward in appearance: his eyes are crossed and he has little to wear besides hand-me-downs. Nonetheless, what Woodrow lacks in attractiveness, he most definitely makes up for in wit, keeping the reader entertained with the many fictitious stories he tells to other characters. As Gypsy and Woodrow's friendship grows, so do their spirits as well as certain secrets of their pasts. When the truth is finally revealed, readers will be shocked with the outcome but proud of Gypsy and Woodrow's moral fortitude throughout the difficult experience that is losing a parent and finding one's sense of self.

M. Mellinger 2008-11-17

0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:

Around 5:00 a.m. on a warm Sunday morning in October 1953, Belle Prater left her bed and vanished from the face of the earth. In the Newberry award winning novel "Belle Prater's Boy" by Ruth White (Douglas and McIntyre, 1996) sixth grade Gypsy is intrigued by the mystery of her Aunt Belle's disappearance, and is even more interested when Belle's only son Woodrow moves in next door with their grandparents. Beautiful and blonde haired Gypsy tells great jokes and cross eyed Woodrow is a fabulous storyteller, and the two cousins form an instant bond. But mysteries abound in the story. What happened to Belle Prater? Why does Gypsy have such awful nightmares? Woodrow and Gypsy's friendship helps them to both overcome tremendous loss and hurt, as both learn that appearances are deceiving and the healing power of forgiveness. Readers will enjoy this poignant story, as White captures the feel of a small Appalachian town in the 1950s, with its sights and dialect with a good dose of humor, too.