THE PAPERBOY CHRONICLES

In Agals’ middle-grade novel, a seventh grader’s thorny problems multiply when he discovers adults gathering for a secret ritual.

Life is complicated enough for 13-year-old paperboy Eddie Diamantopoulos without throwing a possibly bloodthirsty cult into the mix: Two guys keep picking on him in school, he’s in danger of flunking English, and he’s bothered that he and the popular girl he’s taking to the school dance don’t have much to talk about. When Eddie chances upon what appears to be a weird, ritualistic setup involving missing dogs in a customer’s garage, he and his friends decide to investigate. Eddie, outwardly confident and self-sufficient but inwardly unsure, is the appealing first-person narrator of this Queens, New York–set narrative, which takes place at the end of 1959 and into 1960 (a time characterized by wall-mounted telephones, Schwinn bikes, saddle shoes, the Lindy hop, Lawrence Welk on TV, and daily print newspapers delivered by kids on bikes). The author’s first novel, Growing Up on the Appalachian Trail (2022), was aimed at younger children; here, Agals offers older readers more serious fare, at times with an overtly instructive tone as Eddie faces an array of life lessons, including his realization that his past acting-out in anger was a reaction to his parents’ violent arguments and bitter divorce. (“I’m a little better now, just a little,” he asserts.) Eddie’s developing self-awareness, reflected in his thoughts and actions, effectively underscores the novel’s theme: the acceptance of diversity in people and religions, which is fostered by communication, empathy, and education. Illustrating this theme, a Jewish father doesn’t want his daughter dating Eddie’s non-Jewish friend; Eddie, who is white and Protestant, loses his Catholic girlfriend to a Catholic boy and comes to understand why the two Black boys in his school have been picking on him. Eddie and his friends’ misinterpretation of a spiritual rite sparks a conversation about world religions, including Shintoism, which is practiced by Eddie’s Japanese friend.

An authentic teen protagonist faces and learns from realistic life challenges.