When the Whistle Blows in Mock Newbery 2026

Sep 06, 2009 Mary Ann rated it it was amazing

Shelves: boys, 6th, friendship, coming-of-age, young-adult, 5th, fathers

Sneaking to watch your father's secret society meeting. Launching rotten cabbages at high school bullies. Running through an eerie cemetery in the middle of the night. These are the makings of a great book to read with your sons. Fran Slayton's debut novel, When the Whistle Blows, is a compelling coming-of-age story that will appeal to a wide range of boys and their families - I highly recommend it.

Jimmy Cannon grows up surrounded by the boys and men of his small West Virginia railroad town - hi Sneaking to watch your father's secret society meeting. Launching rotten cabbages at high school bullies. Running through an eerie cemetery in the middle of the night. These are the makings of a great book to read with your sons. Fran Slayton's debut novel, When the Whistle Blows, is a compelling coming-of-age story that will appeal to a wide range of boys and their families - I highly recommend it.

Jimmy Cannon grows up surrounded by the boys and men of his small West Virginia railroad town - his buddies Neil, Mulepie and Ajax, his brothers Bill and Mike, his Uncle Clarence the biology teacher, and the machinists at the railroad yard. But one man is central to his life: his father, W.P. Cannon. Throughout this story, Jimmy and his father can never see eye-to-eye; they can barely talk to one another. Their stubbornness builds a wall of silence between them. And yet, each of the stories in this novel brings Jimmy closer to his dad, closer to appreciating who he was and what mattered to him.

Each chapter in this novel is a snapshot in time, following a day in Jimmy's life from each year from 1943 until 1949. The day is particular, though: All Hallows Eve. Yes, that's Halloween, but more importantly it's Jimmy's father's birthday. When the Whistle Blows is historical fiction at its best - it gives you a true sense of a place and time so different from ours, but it shares a universal story. As Jimmy grows from a boy to a young man, he learns to accept the change that is inevitable in his life, that diesel trains are certainly coming and will certainly change his town. But he also learns that the center of his life isn't necessarily the trains, but his family and friends.

So this book will appeal to you - but will it appeal to your son? I think it will. It's full of funny moments and descriptive writing. Here, Jimmy has just been taunted by his older brother Mike and a friend.

"Cars are more than just a pastime to Rowlesburg High School upperclassmen; they're a living, breathing, oil-changing obsession. I can see Stubby and Mike laughing in the rearview mirror as the car squeals away. Pains in my you-know-what, the both of them.
"I spit hard onto the ground. The spit is good quality - heavy and thick with no lumps - and it comes out in a perfect, spinning wad that slaps itself onto the ground just the way I'd like to slap Stubby upside the head." (p. 25 - ARC)

Later in this same chapter, Jimmy and his friends develop a scheme to throw rotten cabbages on Stubby's precious car - but end up ambushing Deputy Heevie Marauder's car instead!

Fran Slayton's writing reminds me of Gary Paulsen's How Angel Petersen Got His Name, and Harris and Me - two of my favorite stories of boys growing up and the funny escapades they find themselves in. I hope you enjoy this!
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Aug 02, 2011 Kim rated it liked it

Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, young-adult-fiction

Readers follow Jimmy Cannon's life between 1943 and 1949 as he relates events that are taking place in the little West Virginia town where his father is the railroad foreman. Each of the chapters takes place on All Hallows' Eve of that particular year, his father's birthday and a day that "you never know what kind of exciting things just might head down the tracks on All Hallows' Eve-- besides the trains, I mean." The ordinary events in this coming-of-age story are bittersweet and quietly lumino ...more

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Dec 26, 2009 The Reading Countess rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-alouds

I loved this book so much that I read it to my class as HF choice. The author writes the story of long-ago smalltown W. Virginia so cleverly. Each of her seven chapters is another year, told on the same day: October 31st. Follow the story of a hardworking train family struggling to find its place in a more modern time.

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Jan 01, 2010 Becky Barrier Nelson rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-alouds, battle-of-the-books, lunch-bunch, guys, re-reading

This is a fascinating look back at the days of steam engines and the families whose lives were built around the men working on them. I love the approach of each episodic chapter taking place on All Hallow's Eve (Dad's birthday) from 1943-1949. Jimmy Cannon, as narrator, is a great story-teller. His adventures are hilarious, sometimes poignant/sometimes scary/ but always great tales. This book reminds me somewhat of Richard Peck's A Long Way to Chicago, but I think my 5th grade readers will be mo ...more

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Apr 22, 2010 Karlan rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ya, adult

Although this book was published for YA, I believe many adults would enjoy it thoroughly. It is a nostalgic look at a family where the father and older sons work on the railroad in a small W.Va. town in the 40s. The youngest son wants to follow in their footsteps despite his father's wise advice. Those who read Robert Morgan or Fred Chappell will like this. ...more

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Jun 19, 2009 Monica Edinger rated it liked it

I can see why this is getting such enthusiastic reviews as it is beautifully written.

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Jun 15, 2013 Jess rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction

West Virginia, book about life in a small town dependent on the railroad. Easy read.

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Jan 09, 2009 Rachel marked it as to-read

First time author

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Jun 28, 2009 Elizabeth K. rated it liked it

Shelves: 2009-new-reads

This was sweet, although not overly exciting. It's very much a family tribute; based on stories from her father's teen years growing up in a railroad town in the 1940s. Each chapter take place on Halloween, so as each year goes by, you see how the family and the town is changing. It's so sincere and heartfelt, but not a lot happens - I suspect this is yet another book written for the YA audience that only adults will enjoy.

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Apr 16, 2009 Donalyn rated it liked it

Shelves: children-s-historical-fiction

This book provides a good lesson for me to share with my students-- sometimes you need to stick with a book to discover the good parts. I would have given this book two stars until I reached the fourth story. Revelations about the protagonist's father and his history redeemed the book for me. ...more

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