Fiction Subjects

Over and Under

Name: Over and Under
Author: Todd Tucker
ISBN: 9781429989336

by Todd Tucker

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Overview

In the summer of 1979, Andy and Tom are two fourteen-year-old boys---best friends, expert cave explorers, and crack shots with their Springfield M-6 Scout rifles. In rural southern Indiana they are blissfully unaware of the local labor strife surrounding the Borden Casket Company. The fact that Andy’s dad is a manager and Tom’s dad is a union laborer has no bearing on their fun and adventure.

But in the building summer heat, violence quickly erupts---including an explosion, a murder, and the escape of two fugitives---and the young boys can no longer ignore that the world around them has forever changed. Through their secret observations of labor meetings, both boys feel the effect of the dissolution, and it tests their loyalty and friendship, as well as the town's spirit.

What began as a season of independence becomes a summer of growth and change, of adventure and misbehavior. Reminiscent of Stand by Me and To Kill a Mockingbird, Over and Under is the quintessential story of ruddy-faced, scheming, precocious boys who must navigate that hazy boundary between growing up and making the most of their last summer of innocence and freedom as they explore the wilds of rural Indiana, see the most amazing gunshot of their lives, and discover what it means to be friends.

About the Author, Todd Tucker

Todd Tucker attended the University of Notre Dame on a full scholarship, graduating with a degree in history in 1990. He then volunteered for the United States Navy’s demanding nuclear power program, eventually making six patrols on board a Trident submarine. In 1995 Tucker left the navy to return with his family to Indiana to pursue a career in writing. In addition to writing for such publications as The Rotarian, Inside Sports, and Historic Traveler, he has also published two books, Notre Dame Vs. the Klan and The Great Starvation Experiment. He lives in Valparaiso, Indiana, with his family.

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Editorials

Publishers Weekly

A bitter 1979 labor strike at southern Indiana's Borden Casket Company serves as the volatile backdrop for this haunting coming-of-age novel from nonfiction writer Tucker (The Great Starvation Experiment). With their fathers on opposite sides of the dispute, Andrew Jackson Gray and Thomas Jefferson Kruer, both 14, learn there is more to life than exploring caves, shooting targets with their prized M-6 Scout rifles and sneaking out on starry nights to run through the woods. Andy, who narrates in retrospect from adulthood, has a father who's a manager; Tom's dad is a laborer with "knotty, showy muscles." The boys' friendship takes on complicated nuances-especially in the wake of a factory explosion that kills the casket company's president. Tucker convincingly makes Andy's voice at once eloquent and gritty, and makes the rural Indiana landscape palpable. Secondaries such as Andy's mother (who has a mysterious past) and Andy's would-be girlfriend, Taffy Judd (who has an abusive father), add further depth to this poignant and memorable tale of lost innocence. (July)

VOYA - Christina Fairman

The year is 1979, and fourteen-year-old Andy Gray and Tom Kruer are best friends whose fathers are on opposite sides of a strike in tiny Borden, Indiana. Over the summer, as Andy tells readers at the outset, the labor dispute at Borden Casket Company forces him to accept a more complex view of the world. "I would learn," he writes, "the differences between management and labor, scabs and thugs, and see the most amazing gunshot of my life." His catalyst for change is the murder of the plant supervisor, who dies in an explosion initiated by two strikers. Andy and Tom inadvertently witness the fleeing bombers but decide not to inform the authorities, choosing instead to search for the killers themselves. "Finding two fugitives in the woods," Andy remarks, "just sounded like a cool thing to do.o This convincing novel blends observational humor, suspense, and a touch of nostalgia into an engrossing plot. The characters, although rustic and occasionally sad, do not succumb to malicious stereotypes. Especially refreshing is the cogent portrayal of the boys' intimate relationship with the land. At the center of a thriving ecosystem, the boys spend their summers navigating an immense cave network, swimming in area ponds, hunting, and even using an ancient buffalo trace to navigate their world. Language is appropriate, with a repeated use of only one mild expletive. The story includes frequent descriptions of guns and hunting, but they are contextually relevant. Teens and adults will appreciate this thoughtful book. Reviewer: Christina Fairman