Age
10+
Grade
5-6
M.P. Barker
A Difficult Boy
Paperback
(Holiday House March 31, 2009)
It is 1839. Nine-year-old Ethan does not want to be an indentured servant, but his family has no other way to pay off their debt, so Ethan must work for Mr. Lyman, a wealthy shopkeeper in their Massachusetts town. At first, Ethan tries to make friends with the other indentured servant, Daniel, a moody Irish teenager. But Daniel, as everyone says, is a difficult boy, and wants nothing to do with him. Ethan is shocked to see Mr. Lyman beat Daniel. Soon he too is suffering Mr. Lyman's blows. Self-preservation finally drives the two boys together and they begin to form a friendship, but when the boys discover a dark secret about the past, their lives may be changed forever. Set against the exciting backdrop of American history, this stunning first novel from a talented new voice shows what it takes to be a friend.
- ISBN
- 0823422445 / 9780823422449
- Pages
- 272
- Weight
- 12.8 oz.
- Dimensions
- 5.5 x 1.0
in.