The car lurches to a halt.The old man finally rolls down his window, studies Laker for one eternal moment while his daughter, behind the steering wheel, fumes and listens to the radio. Laker stands, shrunken and zipped and snapped and collared inside his damp, sweaty leather jacket, and then he hears this unexpected question: Do you do yard work?
Kicked out of his house, sleeping on the street, Laker Wyatt meets eighty-three-year-old Henry Olsen, a lonely widower with family troubles of his own -- a bossy daughter and a beautiful granddaughter, Charlene, with whom Henry admits he doesn't always get things right.
Eventually, Laker's stay with Henry leads him not only to the revelation of a long-kept secret, but to a deeper understanding of the mysteries and difficulties of love.
The car lurches to a halt.The old man finally rolls down his window, studies Laker for one eternal moment while his daughter, behind the steering wheel, fumes and listens to the radio. Laker stands, shrunken and zipped and snapped and collared inside his damp, sweaty leather jacket, and then he hears this unexpected question: Do you do yard work?
Kicked out of his house, sleeping on the street, Laker Wyatt meets eighty-three-year-old Henry Olsen, a lonely widower with family troubles of his own -- a bossy daughter and a beautiful granddaughter, Charlene, with whom Henry admits he doesn't always get things right.
Eventually, Laker's stay with Henry leads him not only to the revelation of a long-kept secret, but to a deeper understanding of the mysteries and difficulties of love.
| Published By | Groundwood Books Ltd — Nov 1, 1999 |
| Specifications | |
| Keywords | Family; Multigenerational; Social Situations; Runaways; Social Situations; Adolescence; award winner; |
|
Supporting Resources
(select item to download) |
Excerpt |
| Written By |
MARTHA BROOKS is an award-winning novelist, playwright and jazz singer whose books have been published in Spain, Italy, Japan, Denmark, England, Germany and Australia, as well as in Canada and the United States. She is a three-time winner of the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book of the Year, as well as the Ruth Schwartz Award, the Mr. Christie’s Book Award, the Governor General’s Award, and the Vicky Metcalf Award for her body of work. She lives in Edmonton, Alberta. |
| Written By |
|
MARTHA BROOKS is an award-winning novelist, playwright and jazz singer whose books have been published in Spain, Italy, Japan, Denmark, England, Germany and Australia, as well as in Canada and the United States. She is a three-time winner of the Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book of the Year, as well as the Ruth Schwartz Award, the Mr. Christie’s Book Award, the Governor General’s Award, and the Vicky Metcalf Award for her body of work. She lives in Edmonton, Alberta. |
| Audience | ages 12 to 15 / grades 7 to 10 |
Winner, McNally Robinson Book for Young People Award, 1999
Winner, Mr. Christie's Book Award, 2000