The Silver Penny

by Randall Wright

Deb figured if he had to clean out Hilde's stall one more time, he'd bust. He wished he knew the hex for making all that manure disappear.
Grandpa said the German folk down in Pennsylvania knew how to do it. But Grandpa could barely recollect the cure for the wanderlust, let alone the more useful hexes.
"Well, maybe I'll just work it out on my own," Deb told himself.

A young boy goes on the journey of a lifetime . . . or many lifetimes

Deb has a bad case of wanderlust. No hex can keep him from yearning for far-off places, and neither can a broken leg. But it can keep him from moving around at all. Deb is so miserable that he even misses doing chores. Nothing cheers him up-not his cousin Tam and especially not that strange boy Bray who's been hanging about.

The only glimmer of brightness in Deb's life comes from Grandpa's lucky silver penny, which keeps mysteriously showing up. Soon its strange powers lead him on a journey that might be just the cure he needs.

208 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2005

Reviews

[Liaken · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wright sets up a character and relationship at the beginning of the book in an important way, but then doesn't end up doing anything with it. The last third of the book is a confusing "dream" that ends all at once with everything solved. The book has potential, but it really doesn't deliver.

[Brandie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chloe and I met this author at a Literacy Night Event at her school. I was impressed with his lecture, and he gave me a signed copy this book. For kind of a 'big kid' book, I really enjoyed it! It was very interesting. You can borrow it but only when Chloe's finished!

[Ellen · Rating 1 out of 5]

At first, it seemed a story of charming hillbilly folks, but I had to give up with all the emphasis on hexes and premonitions. Clearly it was presented as a serious belief system and overemphasized, in my opinion. As one other reviewer put, it just made the story strange and odd.

[Sylvia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Boy meets with near death disaster and experiences surreal life changing choices with help of penny.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a strange mix of Sci-Fi and Historical Fiction, but enjoyable nonetheless.

[Lis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Just strange. This man/author has a strange and very different imagination. I really don't know what else to say.

[Christina]

Fun to read. Description of hexes and the surrounding story was a little odd and maybe disconnected. I had problems with his difficulty in being willing to see viewpoints other than his own which kept him from even considering help that would have made things much easier. His animosity toward the offered help seemed unwarranted. Other than that, I enjoyed the goodness of people that was shared and the growth that he managed to achieve in the end.