Paperboy

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Vawter, V. 2013. Paperboy. Yearling. ISBN-10: 030793151X.

PLOT SUMMARY

Vincent Vawter writes a coming of age historical fiction, Paperboy, in which a young 11-year-old “Little Man” encounters the cruel reality of adulthood. The story takes place in 1959 in Memphis, Tennessee during a difficult time in U.S. history. Segregation, discrimination and racism play a role in the character’s development and overall theme. Main character, Victor, struggles with a speech impairment that makes his new job as a paperboy more difficult than expected. Live-in nanny, Mam, is a major support for Victor throughout the story. His stuttering gets him in trouble at times, but also carries some advantages. Victor meets different people along his summer journey that help him understand the adult life in a deeper level. A troubled alcoholic woman, Mrs. Worthington, a knowledgeable and well-read philosophical merchant marine, Mr. Spiro, and neighborhood African-American scary junkman, Ara T, all teach him valuable lessons about life and help shape Victor’s mind-set about what it means to be an adult. Through out the story, Victor is faced with difficult, life-changing situations like discovering his father is not his biological father, witnessing physical abuse, and finding courage through the anxiety of stuttering. The ending depicts Victor is an aspiring poet with hopes and dreams for the future.  

AWARDS:

John Newberry Medal- 2014

Newbery Medal Honor Book- 2014

ALA Notable Children’s Books- 2014

Amazon.com Best Books of the Year- 2013

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Paperboy is written in first person point-of-view. Vincet Vawter intends to write a historical fiction, but it serves more as a memoir or an autobiographical style of novel. Although, the character Victor is fictional, many of the events, people, and historical background is reminiscent of the author’s own life experiences. Young readers will be able to connect to the main character due to the struggles he faces with his speech impairment and having his first job as a delivery paperboy. The first point-of-view helps the reader really get inside of the characters mind and understand their thoughts, feelings, and actions. Although the book’s text contains many pauses and stagnant vowel sounds, it makes the struggle more personal and helps build the relationship with the character. Young readers will be able to identify with Victor because he is faced with situations that many young children have seen or experienced. Victor also makes a friend in the end who is deaf because they share a similar disability. Young readers will be able to understand Victor’s struggle by putting themselves in the character’s shoes and the shoes of other children with disabilities.  

EXCERPTS

KIRKUS REVIEW: “Carefully crafted language, authenticity of setting and quirky characters that ring fully true all combine to make this a worthwhile read. Although Little Man’s stutter holds up dialogue, that annoyance also powerfully reflects its stultifying impact on his life…An engaging and heartfelt presentation that never whitewashes the difficult time and situation as Little Man comes of age.” 2013

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY: “The story unfolds as Vincent’s typewritten account of the summer, and inventive syntax is used throughout. Commas and quotation marks are verboten—Vincent isn’t a fan of the former, since he has enough extra pauses in his life already—and extra spaces appear between paragraphs, all subtly highlighting his uneasy relationship with the spoken word.” 2013

CONNECTIONS

Classroom Activity: History/Social Studies- Students will research on racism, discrimination, and segregation laws in the U.S. in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Students will create a project with their findings.

Library Activity: Display related books.

·         Taylor, M. 2004. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. Puffin Books. ISBN-10: 9780142401125.

·         Rogers, T. 2014. Eleven. Alto Nido Press. ISBN-10: 099118100X

·         Findley, M. 2012. Benny and the Bank Robber. Findley Family Video Publications. ISBN-10: 0615682162