false 693448 7 Russell Cooper is lucky. When he and his family move to Lost River, a toothy-grinned boy named Joey Banks takes him under his wing. Joey makes everything into an adventure--cavorting in his favorite swimming hole, target practice with his .22, catching frogs, and playing tricks on his annoying older sister Amanda Jane. When their boyish pranks would go awry, as they often did, Joey would swear "Rusty-boy" to secrecy: "Seems like Joey and me were always making pacts. Lots of pacts, leading up to that last one. 'Rusty,' he'd say to me. 'I swear to howdy, if you tell a soul...'" Van Draanen's tales of boyhood antics told by a boy with a down-home way of talking, brings back the spirit of Huck Finn, and, as in <I>Huckleberry Finn</I>, darker themes lurk beneath the surface.<p> Joey lives in fear of his father's temper (and the switch), and he creates elaborate schemes to conceal anything that might cause his dad to blow, from replacing a dead pet goldfish to burying the body of the family cat he accidentally kills when his dad orders him to shoot some pesky squirrels. When one of Joey and Rusty's pranks turns tragic, the two boys are eaten alive by their horrible secret, kept so by a sacred blood oath of friendship. Author of the award-winning Sammy Keyes mysteries series and <I>Flipped</I>, Van Draanen knows how to tell a story--keeping the narrative light on its feet while dramatically portraying the idea that actions have consequences and keeping secrets can be deadly. (Ages 12 and older) <I>--Karin Snelson</I> 679773 2003 Swear to Howdy total:129|5:45|4:41|3:34|2:4|1:5| 129 504 174 36 4 0 false false Wed Jan 05 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Tue Mar 03 12:56:48 -0800 2009 Tue Mar 03 12:57:20 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Nov 30 19:41:30 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 30 19:51:42 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jan 25 22:41:06 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 25 22:52:36 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 03 08:24:05 -0700 2009 Fri Jul 03 08:56:28 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 21:12:08 -0700 2009 Sun Jul 19 21:20:25 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Sat Sep 19 22:54:34 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 19 22:55:24 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Dec 19 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 20 08:20:49 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 20 08:24:13 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed May 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue May 26 18:27:37 -0700 2009 Tue May 26 18:38:05 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Jan 28 21:34:17 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 28 21:34:17 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Jan 25 05:27:36 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 26 07:52:37 -0800 2009
The last fifth of the book bears no resemblance to the beginning 4/5. I suspect that very few kid readers, even mature ones, will be prepared fo...more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Nov 24 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 26 10:31:49 -0800 2008 Wed Nov 26 10:34:21 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Mar 23 10:39:12 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 23 10:42:34 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sun Nov 09 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 09 14:27:40 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 09 14:38:40 -0800 2008 Harris and Me. They have some really funny moments. But the best part of this book was the back story of the Rusty's friend's father and the undertones of how families handl...more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed May 06 07:23:32 -0700 2009 Wed May 06 07:24:14 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Oct 06 19:30:40 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 06 19:32:03 -0700 2009 1 0 false false Tue Dec 23 13:05:41 -0800 2008 Tue Dec 23 13:06:11 -0800 2008 0 0 false false Thu Oct 23 16:46:33 -0700 2008 Mon Feb 02 16:33:44 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Thu Sep 13 17:53:25 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 13 17:53:59 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue May 05 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue May 05 15:43:26 -0700 2009 Tue May 05 15:44:12 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Wed Jan 28 16:51:06 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 28 16:51:17 -0800 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=693448