SANDY WAS A SOLDIER'S BOY

by David Walker ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 12, 1957

Wee Geordie came to the notice of more people via the screen than as the central figure in the novel which bore his name (back in 1950). He is part of the background for this new small novel- while the central character is the ten year old son of the broad Pipe Major of the Black Watch Battalion. The time is the future- and covers the month of a short sharp war, begun in treachery and costing lives the world around. Sandy has no expectation that he would be an integral part of it when mischief- something over which he had small control he thought- impelled him to break every one of the windows at one end of Miss Abigail's greenhouse with his slingshot. Sandy was always a well meaning boy, but things happened, and this was one of the worst. Fortunately for him, the Colonel, nephew of Miss Abigail, had done the same thing in his boyhood- and remembered. He knew too how to manage the dragon that was his aunt. What grew out of this- and the punishment (with its half side of fun and achievement) makes the story, the story of grownups who understood small boys, and one small boy and one small girl who found how much grownups could bring into their lives. How a final brief and bitter misunderstanding resulted in Sandy's being witness to the parachute arrival of scouts of the enemy, and how Sandy brought the word that saved the battle for the Black Watch makes a dramatic, but somehow credible finale to a warm and human and appealing small story.

Pub Date: Sept. 12, 1957

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Houghton, Mifflin

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1957

Categories: FICTION