REACHING DUSTIN

by Vicki Grove ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 18, 1998

A girl's odyssey through, and ultimate understanding of, the life of a boy whose only crime was being born into the wrong family becomes a powerful tale of redemption from Grove (Rimwalkers, 1993, etc.), written with grace. Almost everyone in the Missouri farming community where sixth-grader Carly lives hates and fears the Groats, who live along a swamp, close to a vile and stinking landfill. The men of the clan are hard-drinking, gun-toting types, painted as caring little for civilized society and its rules. As part of a class assignment, a horrified Carly has to interview Dustin Groat; he's not very clean, fairly surly--a loner who comes to school wearing a small pin in his knuckle. In the course of the interview, Carly begins to question her classmates' treatment of Dustin, and to solve some mysteries: why her third-grade teacher, after a run-in with Dustin's father, left town in the middle of the school year, and why Dustin needs a network of hiding places. Worst of all, Carly recalls what she did to Dustin in third grade that so humiliated him that he was forever changed from a boy grieving over his mother's suicide to a ""melted,"" broken creature. Among a cast of memorable characters, Dustin is obviously pitiable but also noble: Small hurts and large ones culminate until there is only an outcast who is not without dignity, and a savior who is not without culpability--it's all very human, and brimming with compassion.

Pub Date: May 18, 1998

ISBN: 0698118391

Page Count: 200

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1998

Categories: CHILDREN'S