"You know what? The bastard blows me out of the water. This guy writes Maine like Ardai writes New York. If you're not reading him, you don't know what you're missing." --Chris F. Holm, author of "The Collector" series, The Killing Kind, and Red Right Hand.

"A refreshingly new voice in noir." --Ed Kurtz, author of Nothing You Can Do and The Rib From Which I Remake the World.

"A glorious boilermaker of noir and East Coast gothic. The action is taut as a sprung snare and Bagley tightens the screws with every page." -- Laird Barron, author of Swift to Chase and Blood Standard.




Friday, June 27, 2008

Fridays: Forgotten Children’s Books


The Great Brain by John D. Fitzgerald (1967)
Illustrated by Mercer Mayer

Tom is the smartest kid in town. He’s smarter than most of the adults, too (which ain’t saying much, since this is Utah in 1896, but still…). Tom uses his great brain to run short cons on the other kids and get revenge on anyone who crosses him. He’s like Encyclopedia Brown without the civic-mindedness. He’s like Roy Dillon with chores and a bedtime. Now and then, his conscience or his mother force him to put his great brain to work helping others. I was probably ten years old when I first read this book, and it still holds up.

Don't forget to check Patti Abbott’s blog for a complete list of this week’s participants.

3 comments:

pattinase (abbott) said...

Thanks, Patrick. That illustrator certainly made a memorable cover. It's stayed with me till today.

Patrick Shawn Bagley said...

So I jumped the gun on this one. Turns out it wasn't supposed to go up until NEXT Friday. I'm going to leave it up anyway.

Terrie Farley Moran said...

Patrick,

I remember when my (now adult) kids read this. It is a great book adn I really had forgotten about it.

Terrie