Waiting for Augusta

Gr 4-6--Eleven-year-old Ben Putter's dad died last month, and his ashes are sitting in the kitchen. Ever since, Ben feels like he's too big for his skin, that if he can just leave town for a little while, he'll figure out how to get the golf ball-size lump out of his throat. The day Ben decides to run away is the same day his dad's ashes start talking to him. Ben's father reminds him that his dying wish was to be spread on the 18th hole at Augusta National, the world's best golf course. Ben sets off for Augusta, GA, determined to follow his dad's final wishes. Along the way, he meets a runaway named Noni, a girl with her own set of secrets. Set in 1972 Alabama and Georgia, this moving and emotional coming-of-age story tackles themes of racism, friendship, and growing up. As the two make their way to Augusta, they encounter racist protesters rallying against school integration. Ben struggles with his guilt about his past failure to stand up for his best friend May, who experienced bullying from her white peers. Through his literal and figurative journey, Ben grows and matures. VERDICT An absorbing work of historical fiction.--Terry Ann Lawler, Burton Barr Library, Phoenix

In a story set in 1972 in a South pushing back against integration, Lawson (Nooks & Crannies) delivers a complex and often touching exploration of father-son relationships. Ben Putter's recently deceased father, a passionate golfer who never went pro, seemed perpetually disappointed with his shy son, who lives to draw and paint. When he starts speaking to Ben from the urn that holds his ashes, Ben--in an act that goes against everything in his nature--sets out to scatter the ashes on the 18th hole of the Augusta National Golf Club, 400 miles away, accompanied by a runaway named Noni who has her own, unexplained, reasons for needing to get to Augusta. Their journey follows a few predictable lines--taking on fake identities, hopping freight trains, and truck stealing--and some atypical ones, such as Ben expertly butchering a pig. Throughout, Ben and his father have the conversations they couldn't when his father was alive. Ben and Noni are believable characters whose contrasting personalities play well against each other, but the story's magical elements mix uneasily with its strong foundation of realism. Ages 8-12. Agent: Tina Wexler, ICM. (May)