Paperboy Hardcover – Illustrated, May 14, 2013

Great story and such a good tool if you stutter or have someone in your life that does. Interesting look into the thought process of someone who does stutter. Funny, sad, some drama. Very good book!

Excellent book. Maybe on Broadway in the near future!!!

An incredible book written by an incredible author!Vince Vawter's semiautobiographical work of historical fiction details the events the occurred during a month when he was eleven years old. Living in Memphis, TN in 1959, that includes racial tension issues as well as other events common during that time period (smoking, etc). Mr. Vawter initially wrote the book for a general audience but it was then reworked slightly to be marketed to a young adult audience.I read this book aloud with and to 100 sixth graders during the last month of this school year. They were mesmerized. If you've ever spent any time with sixth graders during the last month of a school year, you will immediately recognize that holding their attention for any length of time is almost impossible - let alone doing it for an hour a day for 2 weeks. After showing them a video clip where Mr. Vawter reads the first several pages, we took turns reading it ourselves.They could appreciate the fact that he writes of his stutter and the difficulties that came with that with such honesty and openness. His character portrayal and development completely engaged them. Yes, the female neighbor with the drinking problem and abusive relationship did make them uncomfortable - as it should have. Children this age come into contact with many people day in and day out and it is a valuable tool for them to read about situations that they can identify as unhealthy and then express their feelings about them.Like our hero in the book, they were completely in love with Mam. Victor, being the same age as my students, was as real to them as the guys they eat lunch with or play with at recess.I would encourage everyone to read this book. It is rare to have such an honest novel be approachable by young and old alike. I thank Mr. Vawter for his wonderful debut novel and the enriching experience it provided to my 100 students.

For kids:1) The author doesn't use commas or quotation marks. It's not as bad as Cormac McCarthy in terms of a distracting lack of punctuation, but I had to go in and write in quotation marks in order for my 10 year old kid to not struggle with it. The lack of commas are fine, but I really hope later editions add quotation marks.2) The concepts are "heavy", and I'm not sure kids will truly get them. Not the way adults do, at least. I personally don't find them "inappropriate" for kids 10 and up (not if they've been warned by their parents about pedophiles and know that substance abuse, racism, and domestic violence, etc happen...the local nightly news is really much more brutal than anything in this book, nevermind CNN...) but they're added to the plot in a way that I think just leaves kids going "Well, that's weird and wrong." And that's it.3) The basic plot really is fairly predictable, and there's not a lot of action till the end. A lot of kids probably find it somewhat boring (mine did.)4) On the plus side, the book is not "stupid" the way a lot of literature for kids is, and the kids act and think like real kids do. It doesn't insult the intelligence of younger readers, or have obnoxious "one liners".For adults:1) It's good historical fiction and a believable snapshot into the segregated South of the late 50's, written from the perspective of a likable kid with an almost debilitating speech impediment. It's a sweet, uplifting, and interesting story.2) As far as books that qualify as "literary fiction" go (and I think this does) it's one of the better ones, even though it's quite obviously written for children.3) There are a lot of dysfunctional adults in this book, and seeing them through the eyes of a child is fascinating for an adult reader. The concept of seeing segregation through the eyes of a white kids is also fascinating, and when the author writes that this is more memoir than fiction, it's impossible to doubt. I feel genuinely wiser for having read this book.----------------Overall, it's a very good book, and I do recommend it for both kids and adults, in spite of my questions about how much kids can really take away from it. It is a lot like "To Kill a Mockingbird", but significantly better, in my opinion (although I must admit I'm not really the biggest fan of TKAM. Blasphemy, I know!)

I am sure I wrote a very positive review of this book when it was first published but now I feel compelled to add another comment from rereading it recently - I bought and read this book when it was first published and reread it again recently from a new copy I bought as a gift and within days listened to the audio version I got from my local library; I don’t have an adequate vocabulary to say how much I enjoyed each of these, reading or listening to this exceptional book. I don’t know what I think is more impressive – the author’s detailed memories of events during his adolescent years or his ability to create the story and dialogue if some of the story was fictional and not from his own real experiences. I choose to believe the great majority and possibly all of the events in the book were from his real life experiences with the dialogue a blend of memory supplemented by very clever writing. I recommend that everyone who can listen to an audio version in order to hear the author’s additional comments in his own voice plus the professional reader who is outstanding in his characterization of the different voices/people in the story but also buy and read the book to have in your personal library.

Brilliant! Wonderful family read.

The book pages are damaged.

The media could not be loaded.  Feels bad to pay 400 rs. for a 100 rs. worth printand paper quality. I rather buy the book from the vendors at the traffic signals and support them or go to a book shop pay full price for the book and do justice to the author and publishing house.Yet to read the book but I'm sure I'll not complain there.

Inhalt: Der elfjährige Victor Vollmer übernimmt in den Ferien einen Monat die Zeitungsroute seines Freundes Arthur, der bei Verwandten auf der Farm den Urlaub verbringt. Zunächst freut sich Victor darauf, denn er kann gut werfen - Baseball und, wie er feststellt - auch Zeitungen. Doch jeden Freitag ist Zahltag; der Tag, an dem die Zeitungsjungen ihren Wochenlohn einfordern. Das bedeutet, Victor muss reden. Wenn er etwas nicht mag, dann das, und er hat guten Grund dazu: Victor stottert. Doch Beobachtungsgabe, Mitgefühl und eine fast philosophische Weisheit, die ihm seine resolute aber herzensgute und lebenserfahrene Nanny *Mam* Nellie und später sein Kunde Mr. Spiro vermitteln, helfen ihm, an seiner Aufgabe zu wachsen. Am Ende des Sommers ist er zwar kein anderer Mensch, aber er hat viel über das Leben gelernt.Meinung: Vince Vawter erzählt eine semibiografische Geschichte in Memphis der 1950/60er Jahre trotz fehlender Kommata so anrührend und plastisch, dass ich mir bei einigen Szenen verstohlen ein Tränchen aus dem Gesicht gewischt habe. Den Ich-Erzähler muss man einfach mögen; er ist ein Junge, der sich Gedanken macht über sich und die Welt und den Umgang miteinander. Warum werden Leute, die anders sind, verlacht oder berühren "normale" Leute in peinlicher, bestensfalls mitleidiger Weise? Warum dürfen Schwarze nur in Begleitung von Weißen vorne im Bus sitzen oder in den Zoo gehen? Und ist es nicht viel wichtiger, was der Mensch sagt, als wie er es sagt?Mir gefielen alle Charaktere von der unglücklichen Faye Worthington bis Big Sack sehr gut, doch bemerkenswert fand ich auch, dass sich nicht alles um Victors Handicap dreht und er sich dabei ertappt, wie ungerecht er manchmal selbst handelt und urteilt, wenn er nur die Oberfläche sieht. Die spätere Freundschaft zu TV-Boy war für mich daher eines der heimlichen Highlights im Roman. Dazu trägt Mr. Spiro nicht unerheblich bei, ein einstiger Weltumsegler, der sich mit Büchern umgibt, gewählt spricht und seinem "Messenger" und "stuttering poet" das Gefühl gibt, ernst genommen zu werden.Anrührend in verschiedenen Aspekten war für mich ebenfalls die Vater / Sohn-Beziehung, die zwar nicht den Zentralpunkt des Romans bildet (sofern dieser überhaupt vorhanden ist), aber in ihrer Ehrlichkeit und den Bemühungen des Vaters, seinem Sohn eine gute Zeit zu schenken, wohl gerade in den 1950er Jahren eher ungewöhnlich war und den Leser bewegt.Ich habe die englische Ausgabe gelesen und mich hin und wieder doch gefragt, wie wohl ein Roman ins Deutsche übersetzt wurde, in dem es hauptsächlich um Sprache und damit verbundene Assoziationen und Redewendungen geht. Allein die fehlenden Kommata hätten mich bei einer Übersetzung wohl genervt; hier hat es nach der Erklärung einfach gepasst.Fazit: Ein lesenswerter, über weite Strecken beschaulicher, atmosphärischer Roman ohne große Dramatik, ohne einer politischen Botschaft oder dem plakativen Aufruf zu mehr Toleranz - und doch steckt von jedem etwas darin; und vielleicht sogar ein bisschen mehr.

Based on the reviews of this book, I bought this book for my young child. I read it first and found there were too many children's bad words in the book and I decided not to let my child read it.Not recommend it to young children.