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Binding: Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-57131-669-1
Pages: 169
Publish Date: Dec, 2006
Genre: Young Readers
The Trouble with Jeremy Chance
BY George Harrar
"January 1, 1919, wasn’t much different than any other day." So begins Jeremy”T stands for Trouble" Chance’s story of a year that would be very memorable. Things start out with the same routine as December just ended: waking to the clomp of Pa’s boot on the stairs, exploring around Shakers’ Hill, talking to old Mr. Cutter next door about the Civil War, and thinking about Davey, expected home soon from fighting in World War I. But when a shiny green Stutz Bearcat pulls up outside, the year takes a definite turn.
The appearance of the Bearcat leads to a dispute over a black walnut tree. Jeremy’s father won’t speak to Mr. Cutter and builds an ugly”spite fence" to show just how mad he is. The troubles grow bigger when Jeremy says he thinks Pa is wrong. And they get bigger still when Jeremy decides now might be a good time to run away to Boston to meet Davey’s ship.
George Harrar’s second book for young readers brings a bit of Tom Sawyer to New England. In a rollicking plot that rises to an unexpected—and historically accurate—climax on the streets of Boston, Jeremy learns all about responding to trouble.
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Andy Fleck doesn't have much of a family. His dad has been in jail since he was ten and his mother, poorly equipped to take care of him and alcoholic, terminated her rights and gave him up to the stat
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"Harrar expresses Jeremy's awe and curiosity as he sneaks a ride on a freight train, dines in a restaurant and witnesses a freakish disaster (a molasses factory explosion). In the end the protagonist proves himself a hero, saving a man's life and regaining his father's respect. Besides providing fast-paved action and a happy ending, this colorful novel captures the mood of the nation at the start of an exciting new era."
—Publishers Weekly"Harrar has done a good job of researching the history (an afterword fills in more background), but it's the coming-of-age story that provides the drama here, particularly the fierce anger and love that are part of Jeremy's war with his dad. The son must break from his father, but he finds himself using something he' s learned from Pa to save someone's life."
—Booklist“The author has created a wonderful character to show us that parents can also make mistakes, that they are not infallible. They too can be unfair, but they can also be capable of saying that they are sorry. The author has succeeded so well at getting inside the head of this bright and likeable boy, whom we can identify with, laugh about, and remember long after we have put the book down."
—Midwest Book Review
