What do you think?
Rate this book
The Boys Who Woke Up Early: A Novel
Playing cops was just a game until the bullets were real. The gravy train hasn’t stopped in the hollers of western Virginia for more than thirty years when Stony Shelor starts his junior year at Jubal Early High. Class divides and racism are still the hardened norms as the Eisenhower years draw to a close. Violence lies coiled under the calm surface, ready to strike at any time. On the high school front, the cool boys are taking their wardrobe and music cues from hip TV private dick Peter Gunn, and Dobie Gillis is teaching them how to hit on pretty girls. There’s no help for Stony on the horizon, though. Mary Lou Martin is the girl of his dreams, and she hardly knows Stony exists. In addition, Stony can’t seem to stay out of juvenile court and just may end up in reform school. A long, difficult year stretches out in front of him when a new boy arrives in town. Likeable bullshit artist Jack Newcomb dresses like Peter Gunn, uses moves like Dobie Gillis, and plays pretty good jazz clarinet. Jack draws Stony into his fantasy of being a private detective, and the two boys start hanging around the county sheriff’s office. Accepted as sources of amusement and free labor, the aspiring gumshoes land their first case after the district attorney’s house is burglarized. Later, the boys hatch an ingenious scheme to help the deputies raid an illegal speakeasy and brothel. All the intrigue feels like fun and games to Jack and Stony until a gunfight with a hillbilly boy almost gets them killed. The stakes rise even higher when the boys find themselves facing off against the Ku Klux Klan.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 5, 2019
98 people are currently reading
241 people want to read
About the author
A.D. Hopkins
2 books11 followersA.D. Hopkins spent 46 years as a journalist in Virginia, North Carolina, and Las Vegas. Much of that time he was an investigative reporter and editor, and part of it he was a touring correspondent focusing on small-town life. Hopkins’ fiction reflects realities and people he met in the small towns, police stations, and courthouses of Virginia. Hopkins co-authored a respected history of Las Vegas, and is an authority on early Nevada gunslingers. In 2010 he was named to the Nevada Newspaper Hall of Fame. In years past Hopkins taught fencing and was a Scoutmaster for an inner-city troop. Hopkins lives in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews
August 3, 2020
I do not read too many books about teenagers as the age gap between them and me is too wide, however, I was intrigued by the summary of this book. The State of Virginia, close to West Virginia, late 1950s, early 1960s, a small town of (Jubal) Early, teenagers who want to play the role of detectives and racial tensions - all these ingredients are suberb for a good story. The specifics of life in a provincial town in that period are well-depicted, especially the 'equal but separate' rules that applied to economic and political issues, the incredibly easy access to guns and the racial divide. I never lived then and there, but while reading, the place, the people and the problems seemed very real.
Stony Shelar and Jack Necomb, the main characters, are observant, adventerous, industrious and with a sense of humour, which I appreciated a lot.
*Many thanks to A.D. Hopkins, Imbrifex Books and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
Stony Shelar and Jack Necomb, the main characters, are observant, adventerous, industrious and with a sense of humour, which I appreciated a lot.
*Many thanks to A.D. Hopkins, Imbrifex Books and NetGalley for arc in exchange for my honest review.*
March 1, 2019
They always say write what you know, and that is exactly what A.D. Hopkins has done in this, his debut novel. Having been an investigative journalist and reporter for close to five decades he uses his insider knowledge to give the story an authentic feel to it, and although set in the past (early 1960s) it is still timely and relevant to the world we live in today. The main focus of the novel is on racial prejudice and segregation and the involvement of the white supremacist hate group the Ku Klux Klan in perpetuating the hatred towards the black community. The point is made that if you want change you need to push for it - a timeless reminder that we can make progress if we stand up and be counted.
The issue of the moral ambiguity of gun ownership in the US today is cleverly linked as so many of the characters talked about owning and shooting a gun themselves. The writing and plot are seamless and grip you from the very beginning, and the characters are beautifully rounded; I admired Mary Lou the most as she had vision and didn't unquestioningly accept the way things were as most people of the time did. It's a captivating thriller but so much more than that. It makes us question our lives today and how far we've come but also how much further we still have to go to gain equality. It's both a powerful, thought-provoking and highly entertaining hybrid coming-of-age novel/thriller, and the descriptions of small-town life make for engaging reading. I appreciate the title of the book hinting at the societal awakening hidden amongst the pages and whoever wrote the synopsis did a fantastic job; that's certainly what attracted me initially.
Many thanks to Imbrifex Books for an ARC.
The issue of the moral ambiguity of gun ownership in the US today is cleverly linked as so many of the characters talked about owning and shooting a gun themselves. The writing and plot are seamless and grip you from the very beginning, and the characters are beautifully rounded; I admired Mary Lou the most as she had vision and didn't unquestioningly accept the way things were as most people of the time did. It's a captivating thriller but so much more than that. It makes us question our lives today and how far we've come but also how much further we still have to go to gain equality. It's both a powerful, thought-provoking and highly entertaining hybrid coming-of-age novel/thriller, and the descriptions of small-town life make for engaging reading. I appreciate the title of the book hinting at the societal awakening hidden amongst the pages and whoever wrote the synopsis did a fantastic job; that's certainly what attracted me initially.
Many thanks to Imbrifex Books for an ARC.
March 14, 2019
4 stars Thanks to NetGalley and Imbrifex Books for allowing me to read and review this ARC. Published March 3, 2019.
I found this to be a fun book. There were a number of places that I laughed out loud. Places that reminded me of similar things that I had experienced.
The author has written non fiction and edited a number of books, but this is the debut novel of A. D. Hopkins.
Basically about a group of teen boys, both friends and adversaries, in rural Virginia, in the late 50's and early 60's. Back when segregation was still alive and the KKK was active. Corrupt small town police departments and long living family feuds all bound together to make formidable story.
I found this to be a fun book. There were a number of places that I laughed out loud. Places that reminded me of similar things that I had experienced.
The author has written non fiction and edited a number of books, but this is the debut novel of A. D. Hopkins.
Basically about a group of teen boys, both friends and adversaries, in rural Virginia, in the late 50's and early 60's. Back when segregation was still alive and the KKK was active. Corrupt small town police departments and long living family feuds all bound together to make formidable story.
August 13, 2019
Compared to my typical dish of words, this book is different. Normally I consume an odd diet of classics combined with science fiction and fantasy, and as such, this is a book that certainly was a welcome addition of flavouring to my diet. Different in style, setting and development, this was a refreshing way to start 2019 and new book thoughts. I liked it, and I think you will too.
The main character is Stony, who finds a new friend in Jack, a newcomer to the local county. They're both teenagers living through the lens of a southern state in the 1960s. The fact that they're teenagers comes across as a useful pin whenever something substantially dumb or short-sighted is done, and otherwise, a lot can be explained by the current social context that the county inhibits.
When all is said and done, the characters develop nicely, clearly learning from both their mistakes and where they want to go. Stony's experiences are different, but they also seem natural. Even the gaps between ordinary teenage life in the sixties and the more... southern aspects are bridged in a reasonable and enjoyable way. The pacing is patient, and while it is occasionally a bit too calm, it's never quiet for too long before the storm.
Personally, there are parts where I struggled to connect with the world within. Additionally, as a northern-European, the comparison of the county centre to a baseball track left me unable to envision the layout, beyond some element of squareness. One crossing line? Where exactly? I don't know, but it's not too important. Luckily the book does not rest on its only baseball comparison or the only one that was spelt outright. Then there are the firearms. I grew up with the seasonal moose hunting myself, but boy does Early county have a lot of barrels and bullets. If anything, it made me appreciate how common they *can* be, and view the cultural gap between here and there, even today, more clearly.
I was startled when the first usage of a certain word crept up, even though I knew it was coming (this book does involve the Ku Klux Klan, after all). It is a repeat visitor, but never in a way that seems disrespectful in the context that the books exist in. Nonetheless, I would look around every now and then to see if anyone could see what I was reading.
All in all, I think a valid word to describe the book is cohesive. There are a lot more characters than just Stony and his friend, and they are all tied into the story in an enjoyable, understandable and personally motivated way. Even characters who all-in-all are mostly insignificant behave consistently and in a relatable way, and help move everything forward. Without the bustling life and small, yet important, interpersonal relationships between people Stony would not have ended up where he did.
I was provided with an ARC.
The main character is Stony, who finds a new friend in Jack, a newcomer to the local county. They're both teenagers living through the lens of a southern state in the 1960s. The fact that they're teenagers comes across as a useful pin whenever something substantially dumb or short-sighted is done, and otherwise, a lot can be explained by the current social context that the county inhibits.
When all is said and done, the characters develop nicely, clearly learning from both their mistakes and where they want to go. Stony's experiences are different, but they also seem natural. Even the gaps between ordinary teenage life in the sixties and the more... southern aspects are bridged in a reasonable and enjoyable way. The pacing is patient, and while it is occasionally a bit too calm, it's never quiet for too long before the storm.
Personally, there are parts where I struggled to connect with the world within. Additionally, as a northern-European, the comparison of the county centre to a baseball track left me unable to envision the layout, beyond some element of squareness. One crossing line? Where exactly? I don't know, but it's not too important. Luckily the book does not rest on its only baseball comparison or the only one that was spelt outright. Then there are the firearms. I grew up with the seasonal moose hunting myself, but boy does Early county have a lot of barrels and bullets. If anything, it made me appreciate how common they *can* be, and view the cultural gap between here and there, even today, more clearly.
I was startled when the first usage of a certain word crept up, even though I knew it was coming (this book does involve the Ku Klux Klan, after all). It is a repeat visitor, but never in a way that seems disrespectful in the context that the books exist in. Nonetheless, I would look around every now and then to see if anyone could see what I was reading.
All in all, I think a valid word to describe the book is cohesive. There are a lot more characters than just Stony and his friend, and they are all tied into the story in an enjoyable, understandable and personally motivated way. Even characters who all-in-all are mostly insignificant behave consistently and in a relatable way, and help move everything forward. Without the bustling life and small, yet important, interpersonal relationships between people Stony would not have ended up where he did.
I was provided with an ARC.
October 31, 2019
Thank you to Imbrefex books for supplying me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I thought I knew what I was getting into when I picked up this book. I'm from Alabama, which means I've read To Kill a Mockingbird at least a dozen times, watched the movie a few dozen more, and have read more about Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks than kids in other states have probably even heard of. Even though racial politics in the South seem to be as backwards as everyone else likes to say they are, there's no denying that they are obsessed with their own mistakes. Civil rights in Alabama is stuck in the 20th century. Honestly, I thought this book was just going to be another story just like the rest I've read, too stuck in the past to say anything interesting at all.
There is something about the way Hopkins writes, however, that makes this book stand out amongst all the others set around the same time. Maybe it's because of the way the narrative approaches time at an angle, things not quite chronological-- We hear, in the middle of events, from future versions of Stony and his friends, who set to rights their own misconceived notions before the reader even has time to judge them for it. Or maybe, it has something to do with the fact that Stony is unlike any protagonist I've seen in a book of this subject matter.
Honestly, most of the time a book about civil rights is written with a white protagonist and a white author, things have a chance of coming out... odd. Hopkins could have fallen into this trap very easily, with Stony either being the white saviour or the dyed-in-the-wool racist who lets a good woman steer him right. But he's not. Stony is, instead, like a thousand white boys I've met before, and a thousand I'm sure I'll meet again. While Mary Lou certainly inspires Stony's change of heart, its own conscience and common sense that has him going up against the racists in his town. More than that, though, Hopkins points out how corruption and racism in the police force is something that effects everyone, not just those who are already vulnerable.
While it's not a perfect book (I found the way Stony described the women in his life.... distasteful), it was written in a way where I could not help but emphasize with the stunningly real and flawed characters (especially Roosevelt). It was so intriguing. Despite the fact that the plot was not so much an arc as much as a slow meander through a year in Stony's life, it still clung to me, had me thinking about the fallout of Stony and Jack's latest misadventure in the car, at work, in the shower.
It's a read that sticks with you.
I thought I knew what I was getting into when I picked up this book. I'm from Alabama, which means I've read To Kill a Mockingbird at least a dozen times, watched the movie a few dozen more, and have read more about Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks than kids in other states have probably even heard of. Even though racial politics in the South seem to be as backwards as everyone else likes to say they are, there's no denying that they are obsessed with their own mistakes. Civil rights in Alabama is stuck in the 20th century. Honestly, I thought this book was just going to be another story just like the rest I've read, too stuck in the past to say anything interesting at all.
There is something about the way Hopkins writes, however, that makes this book stand out amongst all the others set around the same time. Maybe it's because of the way the narrative approaches time at an angle, things not quite chronological-- We hear, in the middle of events, from future versions of Stony and his friends, who set to rights their own misconceived notions before the reader even has time to judge them for it. Or maybe, it has something to do with the fact that Stony is unlike any protagonist I've seen in a book of this subject matter.
Honestly, most of the time a book about civil rights is written with a white protagonist and a white author, things have a chance of coming out... odd. Hopkins could have fallen into this trap very easily, with Stony either being the white saviour or the dyed-in-the-wool racist who lets a good woman steer him right. But he's not. Stony is, instead, like a thousand white boys I've met before, and a thousand I'm sure I'll meet again. While Mary Lou certainly inspires Stony's change of heart, its own conscience and common sense that has him going up against the racists in his town. More than that, though, Hopkins points out how corruption and racism in the police force is something that effects everyone, not just those who are already vulnerable.
While it's not a perfect book (I found the way Stony described the women in his life.... distasteful), it was written in a way where I could not help but emphasize with the stunningly real and flawed characters (especially Roosevelt). It was so intriguing. Despite the fact that the plot was not so much an arc as much as a slow meander through a year in Stony's life, it still clung to me, had me thinking about the fallout of Stony and Jack's latest misadventure in the car, at work, in the shower.
It's a read that sticks with you.
June 1, 2019
This is not a growing-up story, nor is it a historical novel with a message to deliver, nor is it just an entertainment with a lot of exciting stories about teenage confrontations involving guns and cars and girls. It is all of the above and a damn good first novel, well constructed, well researched, and written with verve and economy. It’s a story of the Southern mountains, but it spares us the cliches so often associated with the Appalachians and with the South.
I remember the year 1959 very well, it was the year that my Prince Edward County, Virginia, public schools closed to avoid the integration mandated by Brown vs. Board of Education. Hopkins’s novel opens in that year, when Stony meets Jack, the new kid in town who will become his good friend and henchman and occasional thorn in the flesh, but its real background is in the Jim Crow years when segregation was codified in the South, first challenged by Brown vs. Board in 1954. The public schools in Early stay open, but most of the conflict is played out in the town itself with people of all ages and backgrounds. Hopkins knows his territory, his people, and his history, and his characters are fully believable and often sympathetic even when many of their beliefs are not.
Stony and Jack start helping out as volunteers in the sheriff’s office, and begin to learn the way their small town’s hierarchy works. The prosecuting attorney holds the cards since his decision to prosecute (or not) determines the amount of justice the sheriff can actually deliver. And since his is an elected office, he can stack the deck by staying on the right side of the extremely large and unscrupulous Jepson family which runs illegal stills and terrorizes powerless folk in its spare time. Of course, the sheriff is also elected, so he has to play politics at the same time that he’s busy dealing with the actual criminal population - which includes the legal Ku Klux Klan, always ready to step in and provide its form of “justice” when a law-abiding sheriff has to keep to the rules.
Our scene is set. But there is so much more - the ins and outs of social relations, in the high school classroom between town kids and hillbillies, in the relationships between mill owners and mill workers (Stony, a town kid, is in love with Mary Lou, a country girl whose father works in the mill that Stony’s father runs), the relationships between black workers and white in a garage that fixes everyone’s cars. Growing up in flatland Virginia, I never realized that things were different across the line in the mountains of West Virginia, where towns were less segregated and blacks and whites shopped at the same stores and worked together. Mary Lou’s family has moved from West Virginia to the southwest Virginia mountains, and her perspective opens Stony’s eyes to the irrationality of segregation which requires small communities to have two of everything, schools and businesses, black and white, both underpatronized, underfunded and limited in opportunity.
But this all sounds so serious! I’ve given you the wrong idea. You can also read this book as a wild ride full of narrow escapes from death as teenage boys full of piss and vinegar act out their fantasies of heroism, defending the honor of their family members or just trying to bring about some justice for people who have been abused. You’ll probably find more details than you need to know about guns, but you’ll also discover why people in these areas relied on them in mountains where telephones didn’t always exist and law enforcement wasn’t right on your doorstep. Stony tells this story in the first person, sometimes remembering ruefully the kid he was, sometimes incredulously, not believing the chances he took and the things he did…and almost did…but came to his senses just in time. There is forgiveness and there is justice. As regards justice, we pessimists may think this book is truly fiction…but Hopkins was a journalist for 45 years and he saw many things, some of which were probably good and all of which went into the making of this book. My hat is off to him and I highly recommend his book to you.
I remember the year 1959 very well, it was the year that my Prince Edward County, Virginia, public schools closed to avoid the integration mandated by Brown vs. Board of Education. Hopkins’s novel opens in that year, when Stony meets Jack, the new kid in town who will become his good friend and henchman and occasional thorn in the flesh, but its real background is in the Jim Crow years when segregation was codified in the South, first challenged by Brown vs. Board in 1954. The public schools in Early stay open, but most of the conflict is played out in the town itself with people of all ages and backgrounds. Hopkins knows his territory, his people, and his history, and his characters are fully believable and often sympathetic even when many of their beliefs are not.
Stony and Jack start helping out as volunteers in the sheriff’s office, and begin to learn the way their small town’s hierarchy works. The prosecuting attorney holds the cards since his decision to prosecute (or not) determines the amount of justice the sheriff can actually deliver. And since his is an elected office, he can stack the deck by staying on the right side of the extremely large and unscrupulous Jepson family which runs illegal stills and terrorizes powerless folk in its spare time. Of course, the sheriff is also elected, so he has to play politics at the same time that he’s busy dealing with the actual criminal population - which includes the legal Ku Klux Klan, always ready to step in and provide its form of “justice” when a law-abiding sheriff has to keep to the rules.
Our scene is set. But there is so much more - the ins and outs of social relations, in the high school classroom between town kids and hillbillies, in the relationships between mill owners and mill workers (Stony, a town kid, is in love with Mary Lou, a country girl whose father works in the mill that Stony’s father runs), the relationships between black workers and white in a garage that fixes everyone’s cars. Growing up in flatland Virginia, I never realized that things were different across the line in the mountains of West Virginia, where towns were less segregated and blacks and whites shopped at the same stores and worked together. Mary Lou’s family has moved from West Virginia to the southwest Virginia mountains, and her perspective opens Stony’s eyes to the irrationality of segregation which requires small communities to have two of everything, schools and businesses, black and white, both underpatronized, underfunded and limited in opportunity.
But this all sounds so serious! I’ve given you the wrong idea. You can also read this book as a wild ride full of narrow escapes from death as teenage boys full of piss and vinegar act out their fantasies of heroism, defending the honor of their family members or just trying to bring about some justice for people who have been abused. You’ll probably find more details than you need to know about guns, but you’ll also discover why people in these areas relied on them in mountains where telephones didn’t always exist and law enforcement wasn’t right on your doorstep. Stony tells this story in the first person, sometimes remembering ruefully the kid he was, sometimes incredulously, not believing the chances he took and the things he did…and almost did…but came to his senses just in time. There is forgiveness and there is justice. As regards justice, we pessimists may think this book is truly fiction…but Hopkins was a journalist for 45 years and he saw many things, some of which were probably good and all of which went into the making of this book. My hat is off to him and I highly recommend his book to you.
December 1, 2022
A. D. Hopkins has been a friend of mine for about five decades. I know him to be a man who loves to tell stories about his youth in Virgina. Telling stories is a good ability for a newsman, which he was for decades, and being a newsman is good preparation for writing a novel. This is a novel about Appalachia. For most people who think of Appalachia these days, their touchstone is probably Hillbilly Elegy, a memoir by J.D. Vance, graduate of Yale Law School, and now election denying senator-elect from Ohio. Though raised in Ohio, Vance claims Appalachian family values. The Elegy describes a dismal dysfunctional family experience of addiction and disintegration. In fact, rural Appalachia today has more than its share of dysfunction in the form of unemployment, poverty, and high mortality rates (372 per 100K compared to 280 for the rest of the nation in 2018). Drug overdoses, alcohol, and injuries contribute at high rates. High rates of obesity lead to strokes and diabetes. The population is aging out faster than the rest of the U.S.* Filed next to the dismal present in my Midwestern mind, there is a diffuse landscape that includes the Klan, moonshiners, and dirt-poor hillbillies singing English and Scottish folk songs on cabin porches in the backwoods. These two realms of reality and mythology make me want to know more of what it is really like to live in Appalachia.
In The Boys Who Woke Up Early, Hopkins takes us into Appalachia in the late 1950s as experienced by a 17 year old white boy, nicknamed Stony, who went to the Jubal Early High School in Early, Virginia, an apparently fictitious town. His school has a clique of “greasers” who reminded me of a similar bunch, not really a clique, in my own suburban high school at the same time. Stony’s attention is occupied much of the time by girl friends Gina and Mary Lou, cars (e.g. ’57 Chevy wagon, two-tone sky blue and robins egg, a cherried-out dark-green ’40 Ford with drag pipes), and, not surprisingly in a rural community, guns (e.g. a 30-06 rifled, Remington bolt-action, a Winchester pump, a Parker shotgun, a Colt Bisley). Stony hangs around the sheriff’s department, where he intrudes himself into chasing moonshiners and solving a case involving blacks unfairly accused by a sleazy lawyer of stealing his color TV. Stony’s girlfriends and a black girl named Susanna play important parts in Stony’s adventures, but the book has more substance than random adventures of a high school boy. It has a trajectory which involves a romance between Mary Lou and Roosevelt, a black boy, and builds to a climactic encounter with the Klan. In the end, I felt that I had been allowed into the life of a rural community in Appalachia, that I had seen it warts and all, and that the story never flagged.
*See the numerous reports of the Appalachian Research Commission and the Appalachian Regional Commission.
In The Boys Who Woke Up Early, Hopkins takes us into Appalachia in the late 1950s as experienced by a 17 year old white boy, nicknamed Stony, who went to the Jubal Early High School in Early, Virginia, an apparently fictitious town. His school has a clique of “greasers” who reminded me of a similar bunch, not really a clique, in my own suburban high school at the same time. Stony’s attention is occupied much of the time by girl friends Gina and Mary Lou, cars (e.g. ’57 Chevy wagon, two-tone sky blue and robins egg, a cherried-out dark-green ’40 Ford with drag pipes), and, not surprisingly in a rural community, guns (e.g. a 30-06 rifled, Remington bolt-action, a Winchester pump, a Parker shotgun, a Colt Bisley). Stony hangs around the sheriff’s department, where he intrudes himself into chasing moonshiners and solving a case involving blacks unfairly accused by a sleazy lawyer of stealing his color TV. Stony’s girlfriends and a black girl named Susanna play important parts in Stony’s adventures, but the book has more substance than random adventures of a high school boy. It has a trajectory which involves a romance between Mary Lou and Roosevelt, a black boy, and builds to a climactic encounter with the Klan. In the end, I felt that I had been allowed into the life of a rural community in Appalachia, that I had seen it warts and all, and that the story never flagged.
*See the numerous reports of the Appalachian Research Commission and the Appalachian Regional Commission.
February 4, 2019
September 1959 in the small town of Early, Virginia. "Stony" Shelor is almost seventeen and just starting his junior year of High School. Enter new kid Jack Newcomb who models himself after a beatnik character from the TV show Peter Gunn. The two boys, both a bit nonconformist, become fast friends.
Jack's decision that they should become private detectives leads to a lot of time spent around the local police station learning the trade. The cops couldn't be happier having two volunteers to do some of the nonessential duties (like cleaning & filing) and the two boys become sort of like mascots to them.
It's all kind of endearing in a way but Early, Virginia isn't Andy Griffith's Mayberry so when trouble comes... and it does... there's more to it than good ol' wholesome fun.
The Boys Who Woke Up Early is a coming of age story set in a time when the world (at least The United States) was having some "coming of age" issues of its own. While the first half of the book deals with the boys' Hardy Boy-esque adventures the second half gets deeper into the social changes affecting their world (mostly racism and associated issues).
I thought this was a pretty good book. There's a certain suspension of disbelief required at times as it goes from silly to serious and makes you question how anyone could let these boys get into these kinds of situations but, then again, it was a different time.
While the story is about teenagers in 1959 and the early 1960s the author strives to present a sense of realism. Meaning there are racial slurs, some cursing, and one or two cringe worthy moments when seen from a modern perspective. I wouldn't call it salacious or gratuitous but it's there.
Bottom line: The Boys Who Woke Up Early is a good read. Lots of fun with a few thought provoking moments.
***Thanks to NetGalley, Imbrifex Books, and author A. D. Hopkins for providing me with a complimentary digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Jack's decision that they should become private detectives leads to a lot of time spent around the local police station learning the trade. The cops couldn't be happier having two volunteers to do some of the nonessential duties (like cleaning & filing) and the two boys become sort of like mascots to them.
It's all kind of endearing in a way but Early, Virginia isn't Andy Griffith's Mayberry so when trouble comes... and it does... there's more to it than good ol' wholesome fun.
The Boys Who Woke Up Early is a coming of age story set in a time when the world (at least The United States) was having some "coming of age" issues of its own. While the first half of the book deals with the boys' Hardy Boy-esque adventures the second half gets deeper into the social changes affecting their world (mostly racism and associated issues).
I thought this was a pretty good book. There's a certain suspension of disbelief required at times as it goes from silly to serious and makes you question how anyone could let these boys get into these kinds of situations but, then again, it was a different time.
While the story is about teenagers in 1959 and the early 1960s the author strives to present a sense of realism. Meaning there are racial slurs, some cursing, and one or two cringe worthy moments when seen from a modern perspective. I wouldn't call it salacious or gratuitous but it's there.
Bottom line: The Boys Who Woke Up Early is a good read. Lots of fun with a few thought provoking moments.
***Thanks to NetGalley, Imbrifex Books, and author A. D. Hopkins for providing me with a complimentary digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
October 7, 2019
I defy anyone to give me a firm definition of "spoiler." Since spoilers are subjective, beware - I don't assess my reviews for them.
The fictional town of Early, Virginia, is where Stony, a white teen boy, comes of age. It's the 1950s, racial lines are holding firm in the community, and Stony accidentally comes across an indirect sign that the Ku Klux Klan is still present.
Stony - a loner who doesn't shy from a fistfight but gets gawky around girls - finally develops a best friend in Jack, a new kid who arrives for their junior year of high school.
While hanging out at the local sheriff's office for entertainment - the two endear themselves by performing tedious maintenance on some of the deputies' service weapons - the boys also get schooled in such arcane subjects as political payback, race relations, earned (and unearned) social status, bad blood between families.
The two get up to normal teen escapades, and then some. The plot is creative. Each of Stony's adventures grows more complex, carries more gravitas.
In the book's climax, Stony and Jack end up taking on the Klan. The incident is pivotal to the town, hence the book's title.
I detected notes of "Huckleberry Finn" and "To Kill a Mockingbird" in this debut novel, which combines both comedy and pathos.
The fictional town of Early, Virginia, is where Stony, a white teen boy, comes of age. It's the 1950s, racial lines are holding firm in the community, and Stony accidentally comes across an indirect sign that the Ku Klux Klan is still present.
Stony - a loner who doesn't shy from a fistfight but gets gawky around girls - finally develops a best friend in Jack, a new kid who arrives for their junior year of high school.
While hanging out at the local sheriff's office for entertainment - the two endear themselves by performing tedious maintenance on some of the deputies' service weapons - the boys also get schooled in such arcane subjects as political payback, race relations, earned (and unearned) social status, bad blood between families.
The two get up to normal teen escapades, and then some. The plot is creative. Each of Stony's adventures grows more complex, carries more gravitas.
In the book's climax, Stony and Jack end up taking on the Klan. The incident is pivotal to the town, hence the book's title.
I detected notes of "Huckleberry Finn" and "To Kill a Mockingbird" in this debut novel, which combines both comedy and pathos.
April 6, 2023
I finished this book within one week. Every time I bring up the book, my default mode network is to run away from the gunshots, which happen a lot in the book.
There are many forms of bullet holes, and many different rifles. One of the lessons for a white man Rich Conway (who nearly bled to death from a big .45 bullet hole) is that there is only one type of blood. That’s the type which saves his life. But the joke that his neighbour told the rest of his life is that “he has lots of Negro blood in him.”
How embarrassing for a racism guy, and how funny for others.
There are many forms of bullet holes, and many different rifles. One of the lessons for a white man Rich Conway (who nearly bled to death from a big .45 bullet hole) is that there is only one type of blood. That’s the type which saves his life. But the joke that his neighbour told the rest of his life is that “he has lots of Negro blood in him.”
How embarrassing for a racism guy, and how funny for others.
February 9, 2021
The story of Stony Shelor and his friend Jack takes place in a rural southern town in the early 60s. Both friends are fascinated both with playing detective and with guns and they start hanging around the police station, hoping to solve their own case soon. But what seems like kids playing cops and robbers is the real thing here, and Stony and Jack get in trouble more often than not, facing moonshiners, racial tensions and corrupt citizens. I enjoyed watching Stony and Jack's transition from teenagers into adulthood, their path paved with making new friends (as well as foes) and some serious lifetime experiences.
(thanks to netgalley, the author, and the publisher for a copy of the book, all opinions are my own)
(thanks to netgalley, the author, and the publisher for a copy of the book, all opinions are my own)
March 4, 2019
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's fiction but it's true to the times portrayed, and told in a youthful voice that makes it highly believable. Warning: You're likely to neglect your chores once you pick it up to read.
February 13, 2019
In creating his intriguing first novel "The Boys Who Woke Up Early,"A.D. Hopkins has drawn from the deep well of his memories of growing up in Appalachia at the end of the Eisenhower era. The title has a wonderful double meaning. Stony and Jack were two friends living in the southwest Virginia town of Early. While still in high school, they teamed up to form a private detective practice. I think of this work as The Hardy Boys meet "To Kill A Mockingbird," with a dash of "Tom Sawyer." The boys volunteered to help at the short-staffed sheriffs office. Through that lens, they saw the underbelly of the Jim Crow South, and eventually played a role in changing the nature of racial tensions and race relations in their corner of the world. So, in that sense, they helped to wake up the town of Early. And in another sense, they became "woke" to the realities of discrimination and prejudice at an early age.
As told through a series of adventures and misadventures, we see Stony and Jack learning to find their place in a backwoods world that was mired in old ways of thinking while the world around them was changing. This is a coming of age story - both for these two young men and for the town that they called home.
The narrative is full of tales of comradeship, moonshine, hunting, bullying, Klan rallies, domestic violence, political corruption, puppy love, and a feud that rivals that of the Hatfields and McCoys. The author has created characters that are both believable and relatable. I came to care about each of them.
This is a book worth reading. I look forward to the author's next offerings.
Enjoy!
Al
As told through a series of adventures and misadventures, we see Stony and Jack learning to find their place in a backwoods world that was mired in old ways of thinking while the world around them was changing. This is a coming of age story - both for these two young men and for the town that they called home.
The narrative is full of tales of comradeship, moonshine, hunting, bullying, Klan rallies, domestic violence, political corruption, puppy love, and a feud that rivals that of the Hatfields and McCoys. The author has created characters that are both believable and relatable. I came to care about each of them.
This is a book worth reading. I look forward to the author's next offerings.
Enjoy!
Al
March 14, 2023
The title itself tells the story. The Boys Who Woke Up Early. A coming-of-age story set in the 1950s when the Klan hadn't yet exhausted its general rage over the burgeoning drive for equality by blacks is set in the small town of Early, named after a Civil War general Jubal Early. Sentiment runs deep on both sides of the segregation issue, particularly when it comes to interracial dating.
The stage is set for the story when the recent Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision changes the complexion of the Jubal Early High School classrooms--blacks and whites are now in the same classroom. Even then, equal education doesn't allow for the crossing of certain lines that are the remnant of Jim Crow, a black boy can't date a pretty white girl. It stains the girl's reputation as a social sin so deep it mark a girl's lasting reputation. If the law won't enforce the unwritten rules, the local Klan will.
Stony Shelor and his new friend Jack, both nonconformist high schoolers, are interested in police work, and through Stony and Jack's timely action, they save a pretty girl from the ugliest side of the old Southern scourge--Klan vengeance when she openly dates a black teen in her class.
This warm warm-hearted story is true to the life of the times, and the well-rounded characters struggle with the driving issues of the day as the expertly woven narrative pulls readers along. You know Stony's going to prevail, but how he does it is the story.
This novel won the Historical Novel Gold Medal in Foreword Reviews annual contest. It certainly deserved the award.
The stage is set for the story when the recent Brown vs. Board of Education Supreme Court decision changes the complexion of the Jubal Early High School classrooms--blacks and whites are now in the same classroom. Even then, equal education doesn't allow for the crossing of certain lines that are the remnant of Jim Crow, a black boy can't date a pretty white girl. It stains the girl's reputation as a social sin so deep it mark a girl's lasting reputation. If the law won't enforce the unwritten rules, the local Klan will.
Stony Shelor and his new friend Jack, both nonconformist high schoolers, are interested in police work, and through Stony and Jack's timely action, they save a pretty girl from the ugliest side of the old Southern scourge--Klan vengeance when she openly dates a black teen in her class.
This warm warm-hearted story is true to the life of the times, and the well-rounded characters struggle with the driving issues of the day as the expertly woven narrative pulls readers along. You know Stony's going to prevail, but how he does it is the story.
This novel won the Historical Novel Gold Medal in Foreword Reviews annual contest. It certainly deserved the award.
April 17, 2019
The title refers to Jubal Early High School, where in 1959, 16-yr old narrator Thomas Jackson "Stony" Shelor befriends new kid and fellow outsider Jack Newcomb and together they help the local police department solve mysteries while simultaneously breaking several laws. The point of the book seems to be friendship transcending and ultimately overcoming racism, but I couldn't see it past all the gun porn NRA propaganda.
October 31, 2018
A book that is engaging and enthralling, full of wonderful characters and with a wonderful plot.
A very good read , I will surely look for other books by this author.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC
A very good read , I will surely look for other books by this author.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC
October 22, 2018
via my blog:https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
'I sometimes blamed my name for the bad deeds of my youth.'
1959, Jubal Early High School (Early, lying almost on the West Virginia line) Jack Newcomb walks in with a swagger, and before long becomes fast friends with Stony Shelor . When Stony isn’t avoiding trouble and juvenile court, he has fantasies about pretty country girl Mary Lou who just may teach him, and the town, more than he ever thought he needed to know about racism. Jack emulates TV characters from popular shows of the times, perfecting his swagger. Wearing a beret and sunglasses is about as foreign as a teenager could get around the hollers and Jack loves playing up his part, looking like a ‘jazz musician from a Peter Gun show’ (first detective tv series where the character was created for television). Soon, Jack convinces Stony they should each become a gumshoe themselves. First they need a licence to be detectives, but Jack figures it’s no problem, he has it all figured out already. He has researched! The boys find themselves hanging out at the Early County Sheriff’s Department learning police work and falling under the spell the power of asking questions provides. They help with a case when the Rich Conway’s (the district attorney) house is burglarized. Lacking the manpower, why not let the eager boys watch the place, rather than wasting the deputies time? If they can catch the criminal, they can make serious money! But a stolen television leads to bigger tangles, and the person they’ve fingered as guilty isn’t as cut and dry as that.
When the boys decide to bust a speakeasy and brothel, Stony further inflames a longstanding family feud between the Jepsons (moonshiners and poachers) and his own family, the Shelors. Like his grandfather once told his daughter-in law about their own ancestors “It won’t do to shake that family tree too hard,” he told her, “you might not like what falls out.” What family is without their dubious characters, whose to say or remember exactly what started the feud. Stony knows only that all the Jepsons fought like the devil and dropped out of school by the time they were sixteen. He remembers all too well the hell Buddy put on him in grade school.
Without giving the story away, it’s a coming of age during a time when racial tensions were on the rise, when the Ku Klux Klan were hidden sometimes in your own family and two boys playing at being grown men, thrilled by the power of police work sometimes learn that the difference between right and wrong, good and bad is thin. That love can incite all manner of shocking violence, and messing with the wrong boy can possibly cost you your very life. Will Stony be brave enough to support the girl he loves, in spite of the hatred in the eyes of the entire town? Will he ever be a real detective?
This reads so much like a memoir. That people freely used such inflammatory, racist language is the reality of the time and place. That sometimes we don’t understand how ugly the things we unquestioningly accept as normal are until we open our eyes is evident in the changes Stony goes through. That in looking for our own glory, we may bring the downfall of other innocent people and at a greater cost than we thought even to ourselves. It’s hard to admit even ignorance can be understood if you look at the root of it, fear. It’s nice to see brave female characters in a story about boys too, because Mary Lou has the strength of every man in this novel.
Publication Date: March 3, 2019
Imbrifex Books
'I sometimes blamed my name for the bad deeds of my youth.'
1959, Jubal Early High School (Early, lying almost on the West Virginia line) Jack Newcomb walks in with a swagger, and before long becomes fast friends with Stony Shelor . When Stony isn’t avoiding trouble and juvenile court, he has fantasies about pretty country girl Mary Lou who just may teach him, and the town, more than he ever thought he needed to know about racism. Jack emulates TV characters from popular shows of the times, perfecting his swagger. Wearing a beret and sunglasses is about as foreign as a teenager could get around the hollers and Jack loves playing up his part, looking like a ‘jazz musician from a Peter Gun show’ (first detective tv series where the character was created for television). Soon, Jack convinces Stony they should each become a gumshoe themselves. First they need a licence to be detectives, but Jack figures it’s no problem, he has it all figured out already. He has researched! The boys find themselves hanging out at the Early County Sheriff’s Department learning police work and falling under the spell the power of asking questions provides. They help with a case when the Rich Conway’s (the district attorney) house is burglarized. Lacking the manpower, why not let the eager boys watch the place, rather than wasting the deputies time? If they can catch the criminal, they can make serious money! But a stolen television leads to bigger tangles, and the person they’ve fingered as guilty isn’t as cut and dry as that.
When the boys decide to bust a speakeasy and brothel, Stony further inflames a longstanding family feud between the Jepsons (moonshiners and poachers) and his own family, the Shelors. Like his grandfather once told his daughter-in law about their own ancestors “It won’t do to shake that family tree too hard,” he told her, “you might not like what falls out.” What family is without their dubious characters, whose to say or remember exactly what started the feud. Stony knows only that all the Jepsons fought like the devil and dropped out of school by the time they were sixteen. He remembers all too well the hell Buddy put on him in grade school.
Without giving the story away, it’s a coming of age during a time when racial tensions were on the rise, when the Ku Klux Klan were hidden sometimes in your own family and two boys playing at being grown men, thrilled by the power of police work sometimes learn that the difference between right and wrong, good and bad is thin. That love can incite all manner of shocking violence, and messing with the wrong boy can possibly cost you your very life. Will Stony be brave enough to support the girl he loves, in spite of the hatred in the eyes of the entire town? Will he ever be a real detective?
This reads so much like a memoir. That people freely used such inflammatory, racist language is the reality of the time and place. That sometimes we don’t understand how ugly the things we unquestioningly accept as normal are until we open our eyes is evident in the changes Stony goes through. That in looking for our own glory, we may bring the downfall of other innocent people and at a greater cost than we thought even to ourselves. It’s hard to admit even ignorance can be understood if you look at the root of it, fear. It’s nice to see brave female characters in a story about boys too, because Mary Lou has the strength of every man in this novel.
Publication Date: March 3, 2019
Imbrifex Books
March 31, 2019
Novel weaves an authentic tale of coming of age in the old South
Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, when boys’ haircuts were white sidewalls, flattops and ducktails, when it was said a little dab’ll do ya, but it never really did. Back to those days in the Ol’ Dominion when segregation was strictly enforced, but liquor laws not so much.
Better yet, let longtime Nevada investigative reporter and editor A.D. Hopkins take you there in his new novel, “The Boys Who Woke Up Early.” Yes, the boys might’ve awakened early on occasion, but what they “woke up” was rural Early County and Jubal Early High School, named for a Confederate general.
A.D.’s teenaged narrator of the tale is named Thomas Jackson Shelor, named after another Confederate general who went by the nickname Stonewall, so Shelor was called Stonewall, which was soon shortened to Stony.
The novel captures the quaint dialect — including language that can be occasionally coarse but authentic — the shabby scenery, nefarious political machinations, family feuds and strained race relations in such detail that you think you are looking at a photo instead of a painting. The plot constantly twists and turns as Stony and his friend, newcomer Jack, confront moonshiners, whorehouse operators and Klansmen.
For a guy who spent nearly half a century in newspaper journalism, which is not known for florid descriptives, Hopkins the novelist can turn a phrase, such as when he introduces jazz aficionado Jack in the opening chapter: “When the bell fell silent, we could hear only his leather heels striking the concrete like an unhurried drummer building for some fellow musician to launch a solo.”
Hopkins and I worked together for more than 20 years at the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The book is laced with homespun conspiracies, displays of chivalry, dirty tricks, righteous revenge and conflicts that frequently result in gunplay, fisticuffs and the strategic use of ax handles and baseball bats.
Here is an example of the kind of dialogue and tense action A.D. offers in page after page. This tells of Stony going to the aid of a classmate named Mary Lou who was about to be attacked by Klansmen for dating a black man named Roosevelt:
————
“Stony! Why’re you sneaking in my back door? And you look like a drowned cat!”
I said, “The Ku Klux Klan is coming is coming up here to hurt you. They beat up Roosevelt. Do you have any guns?
Instead of answering, she jumped up and ran to the front door and locked it, then to the back and locked it, too. Then she ran up the stairs and I followed her, trying to tell her more.
“I need a better gun,” I said. “All I got is this little .25 and just the six bullets in it.”
While I was saying this, she yanked a pair of panties on under the nightgown, so fast I saw absolutely nothing a Baptist boy wasn’t supposed to. She pulled on a pair of bib overalls, stuffing the nightgown into the overalls like a long shirt. She pulled on socks and pair of high-top shoes, which she didn’t take time to tie. …
“Where do you think we should make our stand?” I asked in a half whisper as soon as we were out in the dark.
“We don’t make a stand,” she answered. “If we make one, somebody probably gets shot, probably us. The idea is to live through it!”
————
“The Boys Who Woke Up Early” is a satisfying page turner. Published by Imbrifex Books, it is available online and in some local bookstores.
— Thomas Mitchell
Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear, when boys’ haircuts were white sidewalls, flattops and ducktails, when it was said a little dab’ll do ya, but it never really did. Back to those days in the Ol’ Dominion when segregation was strictly enforced, but liquor laws not so much.
Better yet, let longtime Nevada investigative reporter and editor A.D. Hopkins take you there in his new novel, “The Boys Who Woke Up Early.” Yes, the boys might’ve awakened early on occasion, but what they “woke up” was rural Early County and Jubal Early High School, named for a Confederate general.
A.D.’s teenaged narrator of the tale is named Thomas Jackson Shelor, named after another Confederate general who went by the nickname Stonewall, so Shelor was called Stonewall, which was soon shortened to Stony.
The novel captures the quaint dialect — including language that can be occasionally coarse but authentic — the shabby scenery, nefarious political machinations, family feuds and strained race relations in such detail that you think you are looking at a photo instead of a painting. The plot constantly twists and turns as Stony and his friend, newcomer Jack, confront moonshiners, whorehouse operators and Klansmen.
For a guy who spent nearly half a century in newspaper journalism, which is not known for florid descriptives, Hopkins the novelist can turn a phrase, such as when he introduces jazz aficionado Jack in the opening chapter: “When the bell fell silent, we could hear only his leather heels striking the concrete like an unhurried drummer building for some fellow musician to launch a solo.”
Hopkins and I worked together for more than 20 years at the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
The book is laced with homespun conspiracies, displays of chivalry, dirty tricks, righteous revenge and conflicts that frequently result in gunplay, fisticuffs and the strategic use of ax handles and baseball bats.
Here is an example of the kind of dialogue and tense action A.D. offers in page after page. This tells of Stony going to the aid of a classmate named Mary Lou who was about to be attacked by Klansmen for dating a black man named Roosevelt:
————
“Stony! Why’re you sneaking in my back door? And you look like a drowned cat!”
I said, “The Ku Klux Klan is coming is coming up here to hurt you. They beat up Roosevelt. Do you have any guns?
Instead of answering, she jumped up and ran to the front door and locked it, then to the back and locked it, too. Then she ran up the stairs and I followed her, trying to tell her more.
“I need a better gun,” I said. “All I got is this little .25 and just the six bullets in it.”
While I was saying this, she yanked a pair of panties on under the nightgown, so fast I saw absolutely nothing a Baptist boy wasn’t supposed to. She pulled on a pair of bib overalls, stuffing the nightgown into the overalls like a long shirt. She pulled on socks and pair of high-top shoes, which she didn’t take time to tie. …
“Where do you think we should make our stand?” I asked in a half whisper as soon as we were out in the dark.
“We don’t make a stand,” she answered. “If we make one, somebody probably gets shot, probably us. The idea is to live through it!”
————
“The Boys Who Woke Up Early” is a satisfying page turner. Published by Imbrifex Books, it is available online and in some local bookstores.
— Thomas Mitchell
January 30, 2019
When I read books, sometimes I know exactly what I want to highlight in my review and other times, ideas and themes from the novel need time to grow and develop in my mind like an oyster and its pearl. The latter was very true for my reading of A.D. Hopkins The Boys Who Woke Up Early set in western Virginia (Early County) in the 1960s. It follows the cultural and social awakening of two teenage boys, Jack Newcomb and Thomas Jackson Shelor, who in turn help start an awakening that ends in cataclysmic proportions for the county itself.
Thomas, referred to throughout the novel as Stony (from Stonewall Jackson), is on juvenile probation. He gets into fights and manages to attract trouble even when he is trying to stay out of it. His somewhat unlikely friend Jack Newcomb has been the new kid a thousand times over with his parents moving from town to town for new development projects. The two of them decide to start a private detective agency after Rich Conway, the local prosecutor, has had a string of thefts.
The story of The Boys Who Woke Up Early is in many ways a timeless American narrative of small town life, mischief, and growing up. The universality does not just stop there. Early County has a strong Klu Klux Klan (KKK) membership. The segregated and rather large Black community of the county means that the KKK are always on edge and what I would describe as itching and willing for a confrontation.
This is written as historical fiction that looks back on the racially charged 1960s and addresses how people like Jack and Stony overcome some of their racial prejudices. Yet, it also reflects the unrest we see in the United States today. With recent events involving indigenous activists and young white men ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) hats taunting and yelling at the indigenous activists, I can say without a doubt that America needs a reawakening. Novels like Hopkins’ can give us the illusion that poor race relations, discrimination, and even the KKK and other hate groups are a thing of the past. However, this is a regular occurrence for non-whites in the U.S. and to assume that this stuff could only happen in the 1960s-1970s is a naive outlook.
Hopkins weaves a timeless narrative that should speak to contemporary America. The author was a journalist and reporter and his details of police, politics, and civilian relations is described well and with a touch of what I imagine is insider knowledge. What I appreciate most about the novel is the racial awareness and awakening that the Jack and Stony undertake throughout the novel. In the beginning they are passive bystanders to racial inequality. It is something they never questioned or even really thought about. This is true of most people even today. Unless we are directly affected by something it can be hard for us to see how it affects others. And this blindness goes beyond race relations. The boys learn through meeting African Americans, talking with white alleys, and learning inside details of the bigger race relations of the county that what they have assumed as ‘fact’ might actually be very false. Their evolution is not over night and they don’t wake up and suddenly become ‘woke’. The process is an accumulation of small realisations that result in a paradigm shift for the boys.
I hope if people read Hopkins novel they ask themselves how and if they question the current social, political, and cultural climate of their country. I hope that the characters Stony and Jack lead by example and maybe even change a few reader’s lives.
Do you enjoy contemporary historical fiction? Will you be picking up a copy of Hopkins’ novel? As always, share the reading love.
NOTE: This novel was was accessed through Netgalley and Imbrifex Books for review purposes.
For links to relevant news articles read on the original page:
https://bound2books.co/2019/01/30/the...
Thomas, referred to throughout the novel as Stony (from Stonewall Jackson), is on juvenile probation. He gets into fights and manages to attract trouble even when he is trying to stay out of it. His somewhat unlikely friend Jack Newcomb has been the new kid a thousand times over with his parents moving from town to town for new development projects. The two of them decide to start a private detective agency after Rich Conway, the local prosecutor, has had a string of thefts.
The story of The Boys Who Woke Up Early is in many ways a timeless American narrative of small town life, mischief, and growing up. The universality does not just stop there. Early County has a strong Klu Klux Klan (KKK) membership. The segregated and rather large Black community of the county means that the KKK are always on edge and what I would describe as itching and willing for a confrontation.
This is written as historical fiction that looks back on the racially charged 1960s and addresses how people like Jack and Stony overcome some of their racial prejudices. Yet, it also reflects the unrest we see in the United States today. With recent events involving indigenous activists and young white men ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) hats taunting and yelling at the indigenous activists, I can say without a doubt that America needs a reawakening. Novels like Hopkins’ can give us the illusion that poor race relations, discrimination, and even the KKK and other hate groups are a thing of the past. However, this is a regular occurrence for non-whites in the U.S. and to assume that this stuff could only happen in the 1960s-1970s is a naive outlook.
Hopkins weaves a timeless narrative that should speak to contemporary America. The author was a journalist and reporter and his details of police, politics, and civilian relations is described well and with a touch of what I imagine is insider knowledge. What I appreciate most about the novel is the racial awareness and awakening that the Jack and Stony undertake throughout the novel. In the beginning they are passive bystanders to racial inequality. It is something they never questioned or even really thought about. This is true of most people even today. Unless we are directly affected by something it can be hard for us to see how it affects others. And this blindness goes beyond race relations. The boys learn through meeting African Americans, talking with white alleys, and learning inside details of the bigger race relations of the county that what they have assumed as ‘fact’ might actually be very false. Their evolution is not over night and they don’t wake up and suddenly become ‘woke’. The process is an accumulation of small realisations that result in a paradigm shift for the boys.
I hope if people read Hopkins novel they ask themselves how and if they question the current social, political, and cultural climate of their country. I hope that the characters Stony and Jack lead by example and maybe even change a few reader’s lives.
Do you enjoy contemporary historical fiction? Will you be picking up a copy of Hopkins’ novel? As always, share the reading love.
NOTE: This novel was was accessed through Netgalley and Imbrifex Books for review purposes.
For links to relevant news articles read on the original page:
https://bound2books.co/2019/01/30/the...
March 27, 2019
Rating 3.5 Stars rounded to 4!
Today's book, The Boys Who Woke Up Early by A.D. Hopkins, is definitely one of those books outside the norm of what I usually read. My mother's side of the family grew up in the South so the email I received providing the synopsis drew me to accept the offer to review the book.
The Boys Who Woke Up Early was a great coming of age story of growing up in the hills of western Virginia during a very hard time to grow up in the late 1950's and early 1960's. I felt that while the book definitely had some rougher language such as racial slurs and cursing, it was true of the period. While the story is about teenagers in 1959 and the early 1960s the author strives to present a sense of realism and provides readers with some view that in today's world are definitely "cringe-worthy" but again, consistent with the times.
Thomas Jackson "Stony" Shelor is nearly 17 and just started his junior year of high school at Jubal Early High. There's a new kid - Jack Newcomb - who is kind of a "beatnik" type of character. While the boys are both slightly non-conformist, they become great friends. Jack has decided that they should become private detectives so they begin to spend a lot of time hanging out around the local police station learning the trade. They help the local police with a case when the local district attorney, Rich Conway’s house is burglarized. The deputies figure that they can have the boys work the case so they can save the manpower and deputy time that they cannot afford to spend. Without writing a spoiler or giving the story away, The Boys Who Woke Up Early shares a story of times when racial tensions were rising and the Ku Klux Klan were hidden right in the family. These two boys, while playing grown up men with the police, must learn the difference between right and wrong.
The characters are well developed and learn from both their mistakes and where they want to go as this story moves forward. The pacing is a little slow for my liking, but was appropriate for times and not dragging. There are a lot more characters than just Stony and Jack, and all are neatly tied into the story in an understandable way. I felt that the book actually read a bit like a memoir personally, which added to the factual content of the story.
I was provided with a complimentary paperback copy of this book from Smith Publicity in exchange for my honest review. Thank you Smith Publicity!
Today's book, The Boys Who Woke Up Early by A.D. Hopkins, is definitely one of those books outside the norm of what I usually read. My mother's side of the family grew up in the South so the email I received providing the synopsis drew me to accept the offer to review the book.
The Boys Who Woke Up Early was a great coming of age story of growing up in the hills of western Virginia during a very hard time to grow up in the late 1950's and early 1960's. I felt that while the book definitely had some rougher language such as racial slurs and cursing, it was true of the period. While the story is about teenagers in 1959 and the early 1960s the author strives to present a sense of realism and provides readers with some view that in today's world are definitely "cringe-worthy" but again, consistent with the times.
Thomas Jackson "Stony" Shelor is nearly 17 and just started his junior year of high school at Jubal Early High. There's a new kid - Jack Newcomb - who is kind of a "beatnik" type of character. While the boys are both slightly non-conformist, they become great friends. Jack has decided that they should become private detectives so they begin to spend a lot of time hanging out around the local police station learning the trade. They help the local police with a case when the local district attorney, Rich Conway’s house is burglarized. The deputies figure that they can have the boys work the case so they can save the manpower and deputy time that they cannot afford to spend. Without writing a spoiler or giving the story away, The Boys Who Woke Up Early shares a story of times when racial tensions were rising and the Ku Klux Klan were hidden right in the family. These two boys, while playing grown up men with the police, must learn the difference between right and wrong.
The characters are well developed and learn from both their mistakes and where they want to go as this story moves forward. The pacing is a little slow for my liking, but was appropriate for times and not dragging. There are a lot more characters than just Stony and Jack, and all are neatly tied into the story in an understandable way. I felt that the book actually read a bit like a memoir personally, which added to the factual content of the story.
I was provided with a complimentary paperback copy of this book from Smith Publicity in exchange for my honest review. Thank you Smith Publicity!
September 19, 2019
Great historical fiction — peppered with the kind of details that say someone actually lived this story (or something close to it). Most historical fiction can’t help but overlay modern sensibilities on the story, but this one feels completely embedded in the time — from action to dialogue to thoughts.
Thomas Jackson “Stony” Shelor is a high school junior in small town Early, Virginia. His first-person account describes his experiences from Sept. 1959 through Sept. 1960 — working “for free” in the sheriff’s office, getting into trouble with town bullies, hankering after a girl who knows her own mind, and befriending the somewhat crazy new kid in town. This is all amidst much bigger events: massive black voter registration and the resulting Klan rallies; the (very) slowly shifting attitudes of whites towards blacks; and the fine line a good sheriff has to tread to work with corrupt elected officials and still try to keep a town lawful and safe.
It reads like good journalism — no surprise as this is the debut novel of a 46-year veteran journalist. I had forgotten how much I like a real story — not overburdened by excess angst, overly bold characters, and well-defined narrative arcs that bear little resemblance to reality.
I love the way the clean writing describes both the action and our narrator’s perceptions, reactions, and evolving opinions. He does some (to me) stupid things but we are treated to a real understanding of how his worldview and principles led him to those actions. Billed as a YA novel (the main character is 17), for me it was much more a documentation of a particular time and place as experienced by someone growing up in that time period. A nice juxtaposition of history and personal development.
As an aside, lots of interesting details about things like learning to shoot and care for firearms, working at a sheriff’s office, a garage or an apple orchard. Just enough detail to be interesting to someone (like me) that isn’t actually interested in those topics, but never enough to be boring. Also, fascinating attitudes among the largely working class members of the town — they don’t map to any definitions of “liberal” or “conservative” today — just people using their own minds as to the right way to live and treat people.
Thank you to Imbrifex Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book was published on March 3rd, 2019.
Thomas Jackson “Stony” Shelor is a high school junior in small town Early, Virginia. His first-person account describes his experiences from Sept. 1959 through Sept. 1960 — working “for free” in the sheriff’s office, getting into trouble with town bullies, hankering after a girl who knows her own mind, and befriending the somewhat crazy new kid in town. This is all amidst much bigger events: massive black voter registration and the resulting Klan rallies; the (very) slowly shifting attitudes of whites towards blacks; and the fine line a good sheriff has to tread to work with corrupt elected officials and still try to keep a town lawful and safe.
It reads like good journalism — no surprise as this is the debut novel of a 46-year veteran journalist. I had forgotten how much I like a real story — not overburdened by excess angst, overly bold characters, and well-defined narrative arcs that bear little resemblance to reality.
I love the way the clean writing describes both the action and our narrator’s perceptions, reactions, and evolving opinions. He does some (to me) stupid things but we are treated to a real understanding of how his worldview and principles led him to those actions. Billed as a YA novel (the main character is 17), for me it was much more a documentation of a particular time and place as experienced by someone growing up in that time period. A nice juxtaposition of history and personal development.
As an aside, lots of interesting details about things like learning to shoot and care for firearms, working at a sheriff’s office, a garage or an apple orchard. Just enough detail to be interesting to someone (like me) that isn’t actually interested in those topics, but never enough to be boring. Also, fascinating attitudes among the largely working class members of the town — they don’t map to any definitions of “liberal” or “conservative” today — just people using their own minds as to the right way to live and treat people.
Thank you to Imbrifex Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book was published on March 3rd, 2019.
June 10, 2019
This debut novel about friendship, trust, and social and personal change belongs at the top of every bestsellers list, book club selection, and #tbr stack. And I won’t be surprised when this story makes it to the big screen.
Absolutely loved this coming-of-age story from start to finish – from the flawed, but likable, characters to the authentic storytelling and dialogue to the realistic setting of the civil rights tension of the 50s and 60s as seen from the perspective of teenagers – specifically three boys, Jack, Stony and Roosevelt. I especially appreciated that the most progressive and influential character, Mary Lou, was female.
While this is A.D. Hopkin’s first novel, his 46 years as a journalist – most of it as an investigative reporter – prepared him to deliver a page-turning literary account of challenges faced during great social change and equality and the resilience required. Challenges that are still, unfortunately, still making headlines today decades later.
Special thanks to Smith Publicity and the author, A.D. Hopkins, for an advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.
And it is honest. I only give 5* to those stories that are relatable and make a personal and emotional connection with me.
We all need a support system of friends and family who nurture us and help us grow and become a part of something bigger than ourselves. We are all connected and are shaped by the people we cross paths with in our lives – the good and the bad.
My only criticism is that I would have loved a little more character development of Mary Lou. Something tells me it's a possibility (or it could just be me reading into something more than it is).
When I’m sad to read the last page of a book, and the story stays with me days later, that’s when I know I’ve discovered something very special. I think you will too.
Absolutely loved this coming-of-age story from start to finish – from the flawed, but likable, characters to the authentic storytelling and dialogue to the realistic setting of the civil rights tension of the 50s and 60s as seen from the perspective of teenagers – specifically three boys, Jack, Stony and Roosevelt. I especially appreciated that the most progressive and influential character, Mary Lou, was female.
While this is A.D. Hopkin’s first novel, his 46 years as a journalist – most of it as an investigative reporter – prepared him to deliver a page-turning literary account of challenges faced during great social change and equality and the resilience required. Challenges that are still, unfortunately, still making headlines today decades later.
Special thanks to Smith Publicity and the author, A.D. Hopkins, for an advance reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.
And it is honest. I only give 5* to those stories that are relatable and make a personal and emotional connection with me.
We all need a support system of friends and family who nurture us and help us grow and become a part of something bigger than ourselves. We are all connected and are shaped by the people we cross paths with in our lives – the good and the bad.
My only criticism is that I would have loved a little more character development of Mary Lou. Something tells me it's a possibility (or it could just be me reading into something more than it is).
When I’m sad to read the last page of a book, and the story stays with me days later, that’s when I know I’ve discovered something very special. I think you will too.
January 21, 2019
In the little Virginia mountain town of Early in 1959, high school juniors Stony Shelor and Jack Newsome get involved in adventures sometimes humorous and some times very serious.
from description: Jack draws Stony into his fantasy of being a private detective, and the two boys start hanging around the county sheriff’s office. Accepted as sources of amusement and free labor, the aspiring gumshoes land their first case after the district attorney’s house is burglarized. Later, the boys hatch an ingenious scheme to help the deputies raid an illegal speakeasy and brothel. All the intrigue feels like fun and games to Jack and Stony until a gunfight with a hillbilly boy almost gets them killed. The stakes rise even higher when the boys find themselves facing off against the Ku Klux Klan.
I really liked this one: the writing, the characters, and the plot. Stony and Jack are friends with completely different personalities, but who complement each other in this story of growing up in the late 1950's in the small town of Early. There are many episodes that illustrate the different time frame yet evoke timeless situations and there is a current of suspense that works with the overall theme.
Reading like a memoir, The Boys Who Woke Up Early is an engaging novel that captivated my interest early and held it throughout.
Read in January; review scheduled for Feb. 19.
NetGalley/Imbriflex Books
Coming of Age. March 3, 2019. Print length: 256 pages.
from description: Jack draws Stony into his fantasy of being a private detective, and the two boys start hanging around the county sheriff’s office. Accepted as sources of amusement and free labor, the aspiring gumshoes land their first case after the district attorney’s house is burglarized. Later, the boys hatch an ingenious scheme to help the deputies raid an illegal speakeasy and brothel. All the intrigue feels like fun and games to Jack and Stony until a gunfight with a hillbilly boy almost gets them killed. The stakes rise even higher when the boys find themselves facing off against the Ku Klux Klan.
I really liked this one: the writing, the characters, and the plot. Stony and Jack are friends with completely different personalities, but who complement each other in this story of growing up in the late 1950's in the small town of Early. There are many episodes that illustrate the different time frame yet evoke timeless situations and there is a current of suspense that works with the overall theme.
Reading like a memoir, The Boys Who Woke Up Early is an engaging novel that captivated my interest early and held it throughout.
Read in January; review scheduled for Feb. 19.
NetGalley/Imbriflex Books
Coming of Age. March 3, 2019. Print length: 256 pages.
March 10, 2019
The time is 1959 and the place is rural West Virginia. Stony, the main character is starting his junior year in high school. His main concerns are girls and trying to stay out of trouble and girls. He isn't part of the cool group so when a new student moves to town, Stony and Jack quickly become friends. As friends they have more than an normal friendship. Jack wants to be a private eye so he and Stony start doing volunteer work at the local sheriff's department and end up trying to help law enforcement solve a robbery case. Their adventures include interactions with the people in the hallows who run the local still and a run in with the local KKK. As they grow up, will their adventures during this year change their perception about current life especially the views on racism.
This is a well written novel about life in the late 50s when America is starting to change their views on segregation and violence. It's a coming of age time for Stony who has to form his own views about what he sees around him. I enjoyed the main character of Stony who changed significantly in the novel as he began to notice more about life around him.
Thanks to the author for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
This is a well written novel about life in the late 50s when America is starting to change their views on segregation and violence. It's a coming of age time for Stony who has to form his own views about what he sees around him. I enjoyed the main character of Stony who changed significantly in the novel as he began to notice more about life around him.
Thanks to the author for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.
August 12, 2019
Caveat to this review. I read this book because the author is a friend of a friend of mine. It is not the kind of book I usually read. It appears to be a book written for an audience of young male readers, and although male, I am a long way from my teen years. The book is an action novel about a pair of high school seniors who volunteer to work for the county sheriff in a small town named Early in Southwestern rural Virginia in 1962. The boys get involved in a couple of crimes, usually helping, sometimes not so much. Along the way, they do a lot of what most teenagers did back then, even now, I suppose. There is an abundance of interest in guns, fast automobiles, and of course teenage girls. The author paints the story against a backdrop of small town life, Jim Crow, and the Ku Klux Klan.
The book is well written, as one might expect since the author spent his career as a journalist. The pace is fast. The characters seem believable. The plot is sometimes a bit of a stretch, putting the boys in some situations that seem unrealistic, even for teens in rural Virginia in the 1960s. The dialogue is accurate, the descriptions of the town and countryside bring them to life. All told, I think readers will enjoy the book, and learn some history along the way.
The book is well written, as one might expect since the author spent his career as a journalist. The pace is fast. The characters seem believable. The plot is sometimes a bit of a stretch, putting the boys in some situations that seem unrealistic, even for teens in rural Virginia in the 1960s. The dialogue is accurate, the descriptions of the town and countryside bring them to life. All told, I think readers will enjoy the book, and learn some history along the way.
November 8, 2021
Life in small town western Virginia in the 1950s, where violence is all too likely to erupt, where racism is the norm, and the Ku Klux Klan in sinister evidence. Two high school boys, Stony and Jack, have to learn to navigate their way through this often troubling and confusing environment, and, as in all coming-of-age tales, they make mistakes and poor decisions to finally learn from them. It’s a vivid and atmospheric novel, and certainly conjures up life in such a tight knit community, but it didn’t hold my attention. There is little interiority, with emotions and thoughts told to us rather than shown. We never get inside the characters’ heads, and we view everything form the outside. The plot pushed credibility too far, especially when the boys start working with law enforcement, which even for more liberal times, seemed unlikely. More of a young adult novel than an adult one, and I think younger readers would enjoy seeing their peers portrayed like this, but I remained unengaged. I did enjoy the historical detail, but found myself skipping chunks towards the end.
May 16, 2020
I admit that coming of age novels have a certain appeal to me. This title is one that does not disappoint.
For an adult looking in, Stony appears to be headed for a life of trouble. Then he meets the new kid, Jack, and starts an adventure that includes spending a lot of time at the county sheriff's office. Thankfully, not behind bars!
Aside from watching Stony and Jack learn from their adventures, you also get a better sense of how life was in rural Virginia during the Jim Crow years. A time when many embraced the Klu Klux Clan and feared what would happen if segregation went away and blacks voted on a regular basis.
Tipping my proverbial hat to Mr. Hopkins who does a wonderful job with his characters and painting the scenes they are in.
Thank you to the publisher for an advance reader copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
For an adult looking in, Stony appears to be headed for a life of trouble. Then he meets the new kid, Jack, and starts an adventure that includes spending a lot of time at the county sheriff's office. Thankfully, not behind bars!
Aside from watching Stony and Jack learn from their adventures, you also get a better sense of how life was in rural Virginia during the Jim Crow years. A time when many embraced the Klu Klux Clan and feared what would happen if segregation went away and blacks voted on a regular basis.
Tipping my proverbial hat to Mr. Hopkins who does a wonderful job with his characters and painting the scenes they are in.
Thank you to the publisher for an advance reader copy via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
June 14, 2020
Jack and Stony want to be Private Detectives, so the boys start to hand around the local police station hoping to help out on some "assignments" but things get serious when they find themselves faced with the Klu Klux Klan.
Such a short summary does not do this book justice, but I fear that to go any deeper might give away spoilers. This book is a coming of age story unlike so many others entwining historical fiction with adventure and youth. Hopkins' writing is exceptional; the characters, setting and plot pulled me in from the very beginning and the literary nerd in me was only too happy to think over the discussion points.
*I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
Such a short summary does not do this book justice, but I fear that to go any deeper might give away spoilers. This book is a coming of age story unlike so many others entwining historical fiction with adventure and youth. Hopkins' writing is exceptional; the characters, setting and plot pulled me in from the very beginning and the literary nerd in me was only too happy to think over the discussion points.
*I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review
April 26, 2020
This book was so good. It came across as more of an autobiography or memoir which made it all the more interesting. The story is a coming of age of sorts that takes place in a small town during the turbulent times of the 1960s and the beginnings of the Civil Rights movement and rising of the KKK in that small town, as told through the eyes of sixteen-year-old Stony, as he relates the tales and shenanigans of he and his friend Jack. I can't wait to see what this author gets up to in his next book. Great Debut!
March 24, 2019
This is a wonderful story of growing up in the hills of western Virginia during 1959. This was a hard time to grow up. This book has some bad language but is true to the time period. This takes place over about a year in these young people’s lives. This shows how people can be good and bad. I enjoyed this story. I received a copy of this book from Smith Publicity for a fair and honest opinion that I gave of my own free will.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 55 reviews