Gaff
Grade 6–8—Seventh-grader Paul revels in his family's idyllic life on a small mountainside farm in Hawaii. His father, disabled in a lumberyard accident, raises beautiful, valuable fighting cocks that Paul and his best friend and closest neighbor, Sal, both love. He is also friends with Honey, who seems to return his interest. Only Sal's coarse-mouthed, 19-year-old brother, Raymond, darkens Paul's days with threats, put-downs, and general nastiness. When Ray virtually kidnaps Paul and Sal one day, taking them to see their first cockfight, Paul is emotionally and physically sickened by the violence, the illegality of the fights themselves, the gambling, and drugs being sold, but he hides his distaste in light of Sal's enthusiasm for what they've seen. Paul avers that cockfighting is abhorrent, and in talks with his gentle and religious father asserts that they must get out of the cock-raising business. Dad surprisingly concurs, but jobs are scarce and he feels constrained by his disabilities. Paul vows to find him a job. Conflicts with Sal, Honey, and Ray are plausibly, if not entirely realistically, resolved. Pidgin English and Hawaiian words used in context add local flavor to this interesting tale on an unusual topic.—Joel Shoemaker, South East Junior High School, Iowa City, IA(c) Copyright 2010.  Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.