ALFIE AND ME AND THE GHOST OF PETER STUYVESANT

by William MacKellar ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1974

There's this kid named Billy who meets the ghost of Peter Stuyvesant on the Staten Island Ferry, and it seems that old Pete won't be able to rest his bones until he gets a bridge named after him like Verrazano, George Washington and all those other guys. Then Pete gives his new friend a map showing where he buried his worldly treasure (right under Times Square, no less) and Billy is persuaded by the ""unspeakable"" Alfie Slootmaker to help him dig up the cache while both boys are disguised as Con Ed workers to avert suspicion. Naturally the plan doesn't quite work, but there is a treasure chest and when it's found everyone gets into the act -- Bill's women's libber sister, retired Shakespearean actor Uncle Smedley (whose similarity to the ghostly Peter we take to be incidental), and even New York Mayor John Barclay (less incidentally, a reminder of another departed city father). This has nothing going for it except the premise and some incidental New York satire (imagine finding an unturned square foot of earth in Times Square!). But if the audience for this can be lured away from their TV screens, then MacKellar's slapdash slapstick will have them laughing on cue.

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1974

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dodd, Mead

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1974

Categories: FICTION