4/10/22

11 year old Henry Cassavant is a good boy. His brother Eddy died a year ago and his father hasn’t spoken much since. Henry and his mother both work hard to make ends meet. She waitresses long hours while Henry works for Mr. Hairston, the grocer. He doesn’t like Mr. Hairston much, who always has something bad to say about everyone but Henry keeps that to himself. When Henry starts following the mysterious old man across the street, Henry finds out just how evil Mr. Hairston can be. The old man is a Jewish Holocaust survivor who spends his days carving his old village from wood. When Henry tells Mr. Hairston about it, he learns just how evil the grocer really is. Mr. Hairston then asks Henry to do the unthinkable in exchange for a stone for his brother’s grave and a raise for him and his mother. In a classic fight of good vs. evil, Henry must decide if he will destroy his friendship and Mr. Levine's hope in exchange for material goods. Middle Level readers on up will find Henry a like-able and endearing character and will not be disappointed by the conclusion. ( )

Not my favorite of Cormier's books. It's got some interesting ideas, but the plot comes together too easily, and even though it's set in (I guess?) the early '50s and the language is trying to capture that, some of the terms the bigoted boss uses are offensive by 1992 standards. I get why they were used, but it just didn't feel true to the time to me. Or something. I dunno. This book just didn't do it for me, though I liked the title an awful lot.
This may be among my least useful reviews. ( )

Om en ond affärsinnehavare som vill få huvudpersonen, pojken Henry, att göra något elakt. ( )

It was okay. I really don't think there was much plot development or character development. I guess it's be good for 3rd and 4th graders? ( )