THE BOY WHO HAD NO BIRTHDAY

Marks a distinct advance in technique over Lucinda, for much as I liked Lucinda, it lingered in memory as a trifle amateurish in structure and style. This story of a small boy who lived in a toll-house on an Indiana highway, in the beginning of the fourth quarter of the past century, of his ambition to be a doctor, of the mystery of his parentage and birthday make delightful reading. There is realism -- there is fundamental boy -- there is the rhythm of the frontier in this story that makes it stand out as of permanent value.