10 of those

Kind of grittiness our kids need to read

Author S.D. Smith is best known for his rabbits-with-swords Green Ember series, and while this is quite a departure, it is every bit as good. Set in the US south of the 1980s, The Found Boys struck me as Hardy-Boys-meets-the-Ku-Klux-Klan, except they have a black friend, they’re all around 12-ish, and everyone goes to church. Friends Tommy and Scott were just hanging out after the service. Their parents never left their Valley Baptist Church early – they sure loved to chat afterwards – so the boys had plenty of time to hit the swings behind the church and then explore the creek behind. And further back yet is an old junkyard, complete with a lost treasure the boys left behind when their exploration was cut short by a couple of junkyard dogs. The boys have made plans to recover their treasure, but the plans always fall short, often because Scott gets a stomach ache at just the wrong time. It ain’t just the dogs he’s worried about – the junkyard is owned by a wizard! But this time they’ve got a new friend to help them. Well, he wasn’t a friend to start. Tommy and Scott first chased him up a tree. That wasn’t all that friendly. But it was because Dooley – that’s his name – scared them silly when Tommy and Scott were exploring the nearby graveyard. And, of course, they had to get him back. Dooley is from the black Baptist church on the other side of the creek, and good Christian lads that they all are, peace negotiations were quickly had and a plan was hatched. Together they’ll brave the junkyard and get their treasure back from the wizard. I won’t give more away, but to say we discover the wizard isn’t the magical sort the boys imagine, but the KKK kind. One caution here would just be age appropriateness. Racism is a nasty sin, and particularly in the American South – the most shocking section shares how the Klan burned a cross in the black pastor’s lawn. Scary stuff for the 10-year-old target audience that this would be best for. That said, The Found Boys has the kind of grit kids need to read, and in this classic-in-the-making, we have not just boys having an adventure, but parents stepping in to take the lead. Parental involvement is rare in a children’s story, and even here they only come in at about the two-thirds mark. But their appearance is both calming and instructional: author Smith showcases what it looks like when godly men – and their whole congregations – step up. Racism isn’t just experienced; it is fought. Yes, there is some grit to this story, and that’s what makes it the perfect boy’s book. The world has villains, and our boys need to learn what it looks like to stand up and defend what and who God has entrusted to them. I’d recommend it for 10 and up. That said, my girls love this too. The heroes are all boys, but girls seem to be able to get over that a lot better than boys would ever do the reverse.

Jonathan