Eleven year old Victor Vollmer cannot even say his own name without stuttering. When his best friend Art leaves for the summer and asks Victor to take over his paper route, Victor dreads the weekly collection day when he must speak to strangers who are unaware of his speech impediment.
A wonderful book about becoming confident in you are and growing up.
Story takes place in Memphis, TN in 1959 where segregation was still a reality.
Even though the main character is eleven, because of the maturity of some of the content, I would not recommend it for elementary age (see specifics below).
Points to discuss/to be aware of: couple of swear words; cruelty of segregation; a vile junk-man who beats and almost kills Mam, Victor's family's maid and Victor; spousal abuse (hints of it-not an eyewitness account); Victor develops a subtle crush on a lady on his paper route; Victor discovers his so called father may not be his actual father
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