Books with author Ronald L. Smith

This is the story of the coming of age experiences of two boys born at the start of WW II in Flint, Michigan, a typical factory town about to undergo the middle-class boom of the 1940s and 50s. We meet Jackie, the sidekick, foil, mimic, and Ronnie, the smaller, naïve, resourceful counterpoint to Jackie’s antics, and their families and neighborhood friends. In the spirit of “Stand By Me” and “A Christmas Story” these two little guys run the wilds of a backyard utility easement as though it was a world unto itself, private to their explorations. Meet Dickie, Jerry and the Bishop kids as our protagonists re-enact WW II a la John Wayne and Van Johnson.

Twelve-year-old Hoodoo Hatcher was born into a family with a rich tradition of practicing folk magic: hoodoo, as most people call it. But even though his name is Hoodoo, he can't seem to cast a simple spell. When a mysterious man called the Stranger comes to town, Hoodoo starts dreaming of the dead rising from their graves. Even worse, he soon learns the Stranger is looking for a boy…named Hoodoo. The entire town is at risk from the Stranger's black magic, and only Hoodoo can defeat him. He'll just need to learn how to conjure first. Set amid the swamps, and sweltering heat of small town Alabama in the 1930s, Hoodoo is infused with a big dose of creepiness leavened with gentle humor.

Twelve-year-old Hoodoo Hatcher was born into a family with a rich tradition of practicing folk magic: hoodoo, as most people call it. But even though his name is Hoodoo, he can't seem to cast a simple spell. When a mysterious man called the Stranger comes to town, Hoodoo starts dreaming of the dead rising from their graves. Even worse, he soon learns the Stranger is looking for a boy named Hoodoo. The entire town is at risk from the Stranger's black magic, and only Hoodoo can defeat him. He'll just need to learn how to conjure first. Set amid the swamps, and sweltering heat of small town Alabama in the 1930s, Hoodoo is infused with a big dose of creepiness leavened with gentle humor.

These are the stories of the coming of age experiences of two boys born at the start of WW II in Flint, Michigan, a typical factory town about to undergo the middle-class boom of the 1940s and 50s. We meet Jackie, the sidekick, foil, mimic of the entertainers of the times, and Ronnie, the smaller, naïve, resourceful counterpoint to Jackie’s antics, and their families and neighborhood friends.