The Paper Cowboy

Starred review from October 13, 2014
Inspired by her father's childhood, Levine (The Lions of Little Rock) explores the charged emotions of the McCarthy era in a hard-hitting story set in suburban Chicago. "Cowboys have scars. Bad guys have scars. Sisters aren't supposed to have scars," thinks 12-year-old Tommy, who feels guilty after his older sister, Mary Lou, is severely burned while doing his chores. Tommy's mother, already volatile, becomes even more so, verbally and physically abusing Tommy. Tommy's own anger builds, and he hurts others in turn. He steals from the general store and, when reprimanded, plants a found copy of The Daily Worker at the store, putting its owner in jeopardy. Tommy and his friends also bully the storeowner's overweight son, "Little Skinny," who has burn scars and a dying mother. Levine creates a believably frustrated and overwhelmed protagonist in Tommy, who is goodhearted at his core, but struggles mightily to do the right thing as tragedies and setbacks rush at him. It's a thoughtful story about understanding and compassion, distinguished by complex characters and a supportive, tight-knit community. Ages 10âup. Agent: Kathryn Green, Kathryn Green Literary Agency.

Starred review from August 15, 2014
A family crisis pushes a 12-year-old wannabe cowboy living outside Chicago in 1953 to resort to bullying and damaging pranks. Since his baby sister's birth, Tommy's normally moody mother's been like a "sky full of dark clouds." When his older sister's seriously burned, Tommy's left to cope with her daily newspaper route, his increasingly abusive mother, his overwhelmed father and his younger sisters. Tommy reacts by bullying classmates, especially a shy, overweight new boy at school named Sam. When he's caught stealing from Sam's father's store, Tommy retaliates by planting a copy of a communist newspaper found during a community paper drive in the store. After the owner's accused of being a communist and the store's boycotted, Tommy realizes he's acting like an outlaw instead of a cowboy, and he tries to find the real communist in the neighborhood, leading to surprising discoveries and the help his family desperately needs. Speaking in the first person, Tommy reveals himself as a good-hearted, responsible kid who's temporarily lost his moral compass. Effective use of cowboy imagery allows Tommy to step up like his hero, Gary Cooper in High Noon, and do the right thing. Period detail and historical references effectively capture the anti-communist paranoia of the McCarthy era. A winningly authentic, realistic and heartwarming family drama. (author's note, photos) (Historical fiction. 10-13)

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November 1, 2014

Gr 5 Up-Twelve-year-old Tommy struggles with a multitude of problems as he grows up in the small working class, immigrant community of Downer's Grove, Illinois during the early 1950s. His mother, who suffers from debilitating mental illness frequently lashes out in fits of unpredictable violence that affect the entire family, including his father and two younger sisters. When his beloved older sister is severely burned in an accident that he blames on himself, he takes over her early morning paper route, meeting neighbors and encountering challenges along the way. Despite his valiant efforts to do right and "be like a cowboy," Tommy finds himself acting more like an outlaw, stealing from a local shop and bullying other boys, especially a new-to-town, scar-faced boy he calls "Little Skinny." When Tommy plants a Communist newspaper in Little Skinny's dad's shop, he realizes that his latest prank may have gone too far when it almost puts the shop out of business. As he learns more about the lives of those with whom he interacts, he feels remorse and tries to set things straight. Doing so requires telling the truth, finding surprising answers and nobly asking others for much needed help. Levine deftly captures a time period filled with an overarching paranoia and small-town life filled with tensions on many levels. The story itself is faintly reminiscent of Jack Gantos' Dead End in Norvelt (Farrar, 2011), but without the humorous relief. Scenes of violent beatings, emotional hospital visits, and other family and social drama make this historical novel almost too realistic at times. Give it to readers who want to learn about the effects of bullying or surviving life's tough situations.-Madeline J. Bryant, Los Angeles Public Library

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2015
Twelve-year-old Tommy Wilson loves cowboys and wants to be one. That's not so easy, though, in 1950s Downers Grove, Illinois. Beset with worry and guilt -- his mother is becoming more and more emotionally unstable, and his older sister suffers serious burns while taking over one of Tommy's chores -- Tommy takes out his troubles on others, bullying kids at school and playing a prank on the local grocery store owner that ends up costing the man his business. Remorseful, Tommy goes about becoming a different kind of cowboy -- not the gunslinger type, exacting revenge in a shootout, but the one "who stands up for others. Who fights for the people he loves, for the town they live in"; and readers will be able to check off his efforts as the story proceeds. Though the cowboy metaphor and the imparted life lessons are occasionally heavy-handed, Levine expertly evokes a small town in the grip of McCarthyism, people afraid of one another and anyone who might be a Communist; afraid even to admit that long ago a Daily Worker newspaper was read or a Communist meeting attended. The themes of bullying, community, and growing up in a dysfunctional family are explored sensitively, and readers will find themselves wrapped up in Tommy's life, observing how he will, inevitably, live up to his cowboy ideals. dean schneider

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from November 1, 2014
Grades 5-8 *Starred Review* In 1950s Downers Grove, Illinois, where tensions over communism run high in the wake of McCarthyism, 12-year-old Tommy wants to be just like Gary Cooper, the ultimate cowboy in High Noon. He channels the character while he takes over his injured sister's paper route, but in reality, Tommy is nothing like his idolhe is a bully who all too often gets away with it. He picks on Sam McKenzie, ironically named Little Skinny, and steals from Mr. McKenzie's store. When a thoughtless prank goes wrong, Tommy is suddenly responsible for leading the townspeople to believe that Mr. McKenzie is a communist, and they turn against the store owner with such fervor that he goes out of business. Guilt-ridden, Tommy takes it upon himself to find out who the real communist is, only to find the answer is a lot closer to home than he ever imagined. Though much of Tommy's brutish behavior stems from his home life, including a mother with an undiagnosed and untreated mental illness, Levine never exaggerates this connection, allowing readers to draw their own conclusions. A sophisticated, powerful story about a community's ability to help one another out, and the paper cowboy who helps bring them together.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)