THE MAGNIFICENT JALOPY
By
About five thousand pounds of scrap iron"" narrator Wally calls the 1930 Packard Phaeton, but with $150 plus Injun's mechanical know-how, Link's brainchild is on the road and the three friends are in it, racing one thousand miles north from L.A. to Portland, Oregon in a four-day rally against three of their high school pals. Wally is an effortless writer, talking about people, engines or sequoia trees with a seventeen-year-old's words and jests. A lot is implied about good sportsmanship and about friendship, but all nicely understated: when the three boys stop to rescue a man pinned under a truck, they pooh-pooh their heroism (""our little humanitarian episode"") but feel ""gold-plated good."" Written in a fast-paced, conversational style, this will be a joy-ride for older problem readers and fun for younger boys as well.