FROM THE PUBLISHER

School's finally out, and eleven-year-old Mitch Valentine is ready to get started on his extensive list of things to do with his best friend - until his mom ruins everything with a surprise announcement. The family is going to take a long trip halfway across the country, to stay with her family down South. Mitch's reluctant summer visit to sweltering farm country tests him in all sorts of ways, starting with his sense of humor. Pitkin, Louisiana, turns out to be a place filled with challenges and dangers, from rope burns to raging bulls.

In this vivid and funny first novel, Mitch discovers that it's his own bad decisions that can make for the biggest challenges and dangers of all.

FROM THE CRITICS

VOYA - Ed Goldberg

Sixth grader Mitch must leave San Bernardino and his best friend, Tick, to spend the summer in the swamps of "Lousy-ana," visiting country-bumpkin relatives he has never met. Mitch and Tick had the summer planned-sci-fi movies, bike riding, camping in Tick's tree house. Mitch is convinced that he will have a horrible summer. Unexpectedly his Louisiana cousins turn out to be fun, and with them, Mitch taunts a Brahma bull, jumps cannonball-style into the creek, has corncob fights, gives his dog a Mohawk to relieve the heat, and reads some of the 974 comic books that his cousin Gary has collected. He is also intrigued by Finn, his cousin's neighbor who is a year older, calls Mitch "City Boy," and thinks that he is a wuss. Finn challenges Mitch to prove himself by climbing the water tower and joining the "Cottonmouth Club," assuming that Mitch will fail. Trying to impress Finn and also enjoying his cousins, Mitch rarely thinks of Tick. Offering a story that is reminiscent of Gary Paulsen's Harris and Me (Harcourt, 1993), Marcum pens an all-boy book, with its funny "you ain't chicken, are ya?", farting, and swimming-in-the creek stories. The 1963 time frame bears little relevance other than occasional contemporary references. The writing is descriptive and comical, peppered with Mitch's humorous asides. The Southern lingo is a hoot, and the boys' antics are nonstop. With its great message-that first impressions are deceiving as Mitch puts Finn and his cousins in perspective-and a rompin' good time, this book is perfect for middle school and public libraries. VOYA CODES: 4Q 4P M J (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Broad general YA appeal; Middle School, defined as grades 6to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2005, Farrar Straus Giroux, 336p., $18. Ages 11 to 15.

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-As this coming-of-age novel set in 1960s California opens, 11-year-old Mitch is gearing up for a summer of monster movies and sleepovers with his best friend. He is dismayed to learn that his family will be spending two months in rural Louisiana instead. Upon arrival, he is unimpressed with the small town and his overall-clad relatives. Over the next two months, he deals with a first crush, a raging bull, a charismatic troublemaker, and third-degree burns. By his 12th birthday, Mitch has learned to respect his country cousins and himself, and has made a successful transition to adolescence. For the first two thirds of this novel, the narrator's voice is inconsistent and stilted, and the plot meanders down several paths before settling on a main road. The author tries to weave in as many period pop-culture references as possible, and many of these details seem distracting and out of place. In the last six chapters, as the pace picks up and the characters begin to come to life, the book really redeems itself. Unfortunately, the target audience will probably have given up long before then.-Rachael Vilmar, Atlanta Fulton Public Library, GA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

It's summer, 1963, and Air Force brat Mitch Valentine is glad to bid adieu to sixth grade. He has his summer planned out to the last minute with his best friend TK, until his parents announce the family will spend a couple months with his maternal grandfather in Pitkin, Louisiana while his father goes in for special training. As if the horror of country cousins weren't bad enough, there's no AC or TV! Mitch's adventures mount with each chapter: He's chased by a bull, burnt on a rope swing and the cause of a near fatal incident involving an Army convoy and some cardboard aliens. Mitch warms to his situation and his cousins-not to mention his cousin Gary's sweetheart Skeeter before the summer draws to a happy conclusion. Marcum's first may be a bit sluggish in places, but it makes for a wonderful historical novel for boys not interested in war stories. The characters and the bayou breathe, and the hijinks will leave 'em laughing. Here are adventures worthy of Peck's Soup for a new generation. (Fiction. 10-14)