Birdlegs

Sometimes you have to run for your life

At Lincoln High, Nathan Stewart is practically invisible. The only time he is noticed is when his fellow students need someone to torment. Not only do they call him nerd, bookworm, or “Birdlegs,” but they also threaten him with physical violence. The problem has become so serious that two of his main goals in life are to hide his skinny body from his classmates and to escape the constant persecution of the bullies, especially muscle-bound Kit Morrison.

As one of the outcasts at Fremont, Nathan has little hope that the girl of his dreams, Kathy Young, will ever notice him. So he resigns himself to adoring her in secret. The only person who really knows how Nathan feels is his friend in misery, a classmate named Benny Berger, who is hounded and teased for being fat and clumsy.

But Nathan has one remarkable ability that has the potential to change everything and win the admiration of that very special girl.

Kenneth R. Tarr taught French language and literature at Brigham Young University for fourteen years, and French and Spanish for three years at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah. He received a master's degree in French and Spanish at Brigham Young in 1965, and a doctorate in French at Kansas University in 1973, with a minor in Medieval history.

Kenneth was born and raised in southern California and has been a member of the LDS church all his life, serving in many capacities. He and his wife, Kathy, have been married fifty-one years and have eight children and twenty-seven grandchildren. Currently they live in Utah where they own and operate an herb store. Kenneth enjoys writing, exercising, doing repairs, and listening to good music.