Days of Little Texas - Hardcover

Nelson, R. A.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375855939 ISBN 13: 9780375855931

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2009

Synopsis

A ghostly love story from the author of Teach Me.

Welcome, all ye faithful—and otherwise—to a ghost story, a romance, and a reckoning unlike anything you’ve read before. Acclaimed YA author R. A. Nelson delivers a tantalizing tale set in the environs of the evangelical revival circuit and centered around Ronald Earl, who at ten became the electrifying “boy wonder” preacher known as Little Texas. Now sixteen, though the faithful still come and roar with praise and devotion, Ronald Earl is beginning to have doubts that he is worthy of and can continue his calling. Doubts that only intensify when his faith and life are tested by a mysterious girl who he was supposed to have healed, but who is now showing up at the fringe of every stop on the circuit. Is she merely devoted, or is she haunting him? Fascinating and original, this is an unusual story whose reverb will be deeply felt and which will inspire lively book discussion.

About this title

About the Author

R. A. Nelson made his literary debut with the “terrifying [and] poetic” Teach Me, followed by the “incandescent” Breathe My Name (both quotes from Kirkus Reviews). He and his family live in north Alabama. Visit him on the Web at ranelson1.com.
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Reviews

Grade 7–10—Ronald Earl, aka Little Texas, almost 16, has been on the road with his Aunt Wanda Joy, elderly Sugar Tom, and Certain Certain for nigh on six years, preaching the gospel and performing healings in a long succession of small Southern towns. Lately he feels a fraud, bedeviled by recurring dreams of being with a beautiful blond girl, naked. Sincere in his faith, he's nevertheless beginning to doubt his work, his worthiness. Exhausted after a night's work, he performs one last healing on a girl, Lucy, that feels different. As the days pass, he can't stop thinking about her as she melds with the girl of his dreams. When a large, boisterous crowd in Mississippi cows him, he leaves the stage, unable to preach. Wanda Joy hatches a plan to get him back on track that will test his faith and may, if he's able, defeat the evil that ruined her grandfather on the same site, years before. Are the women in Ronald's life working for good, or ill? A substantial subtext about twisted souls ensnared by slavery leads to increasingly scary and disturbing events, culminating in a showdown with evil reminiscent of M. T. Anderson's climactic battle in Thirsty (Candlewick, 1997). Chapters are brief, the pace is rapid, and the tension is high as Ronald wrestles with demons both temporal and spiritual to find his place in the world. An affecting and sharply written story.—Joel Shoemaker, South East Junior High School, Iowa City, IA END

Edition details

• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0375855939
• ISBN 13: 9780375855931
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 400