Read Quick and Lingers Long After

When the Whistle Blows was a surprise treasure I stumbled upon. It was not a book that I would naturally gravitate towards - it seemed like a "boy" book. I tell you this only so you don't make that mistake. I was searching for some great "boy" titles to add to my book fair set up so I picked it up to check it out. And it has been true love ever since. It is a great "boy" book! It is a great "girl" book - because, now everyone say it together, "IT IS A GREAT BOOK!"

Set in Rowlesberg, West Virginia at the time that the train system is converting from steam to diesel, Fran Cannon Slayton, uses the tales her dad told her about his childhood to create the character of Jimmy Slayton (based on her father and his relationship with her own grandfather.) Very cleverly, the author lets the story unfold by visiting the same 2-3 day period every year in succession. And brilliantly, these days include October 31st - Halloween, AND Jimmy Slayton's father's birthday.

Jimmy is the youngest of three sons and has grown up with no other desire than to work on the steam engines like his father and brothers before him. "I love steam trains. I love living in a town that's chock'full of 'em. I being on 'em, being anywhere near 'em. They're as much a part of my life around here as the mountains. Or breathing."

While the book is filled with secret societies, Halloween pranks, and rival football games, the story is about Jimmy and his relationship with his father, William Patrick. As the third son in this railroad royalty so determined to prove himself, Jimmy misjudges his father's intentions time and time again. Dad does not disappoint. With no long lectures of why things are the way they are, Fran Slayton Cannon artfully reveals the true character of Jimmy's father (based on her own grandfather whom she never met.) He has Jimmy's number and he plays it cunningly throughout the book building to the final dispute. He pushes Jimmy towards college, not because of his doubt in Jimmy's abilities as Jimmy thinks, but rather his wisdom for where their world is headed. And ultimately a desire for a better life for his son.

Great read for 5h - 8th grader readers. I prepared book club questions for Coast Kids in June - check them out!