Fiction, Children - Fiction & Literature, Fiction Subjects
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Overview
When eleven-year-old Sam Webber's father disappears without a trace, he and his mother are forced to relocate to a tough neighborhood, closer to her job. Unfamiliar with his surroundings and intimidated by the students of his new school, Sam recounts the sometimes frightening, sometimes delightful details of his life with touching, humorous sincerity. Living in a tiny apartment with a bedroom that feels like a closet and a closet that has been turned into a den, he is forced to deal with the legacy of depression that marked his father, and threatens to envelop him.The city remains a cold and unwelcoming place to Sam until he meets Greely, an elderly black janitor at his junior high. Through this unlikely friendship Sam begins to heal, as well as confront the racism that surrounds his community, and his life. With afternoons of football in the park and greasy meals at the local Little Tavern, Sam discovers that friendship and warmth can rise in even the saddest times.
Tracing a year in the life of an exceptional young boy, newcomer Jonathon Scott Fuqua leaves an impression that endures like a watermark. A masterfully written novel full of beautifully drawn, unforgettable characters, The Reappearance of Sam Webber is only the first from a top writer whose talented storytelling will touch every reader.
The Reappearance of Sam Webber won the Alex Award. Co-sponsored by Booklist magazine and the American Library Association (ALA) Youth Services Division, the Alex Award is given annually to the 10 best adult books for children.
The novel was also named to the New York Public Library’s 2000 Books for the Teen Age list. The American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) listed The Reappearance of Sam Webber as one of two novels in print, adult or YA, to deal with the issue of violence in youth.
From January through April 2003, Sam Webber was part of Peoria, Illinois’s “One City, One Book.”
School Library Journal named The Reappearance of Sam Webber one of the top five adult novels for young adults in 1999. Booklist named it to its editors’ choice ’99 for adult books for young adults. The novel has appeared on numerous summer reading lists.
Editorials
Kirkus Reviews
"A year in the life of a Baltimore boy provides the basis for a formidable portrait of urban American life . . . A warming exploration."Publishers Weekly
"A white 11-year-old becomes fast friends with a black janitor and learns about racism, loss, grief, forgiveness and the landscape of Baltimore in this heartfelt debut. Fuqua has a sensitive understanding of the shaky emotional terrain of preadolescence, and he displays a good ear for dialogue and an intimate feel for Baltimore's rowhouses, creaky buses, and broad sidewalks."School Library Journal
"In a style somewhat reminiscent of Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird or Olive Ann Burns's Cold Sassy Tree, a slightly older Sam relates the events of a watershed year in his life . . . Sam is a realistic, vivid character . . . he is often frightened, confused, and lonely. He learns, however, that family doesn't have to be composed of blood relatives, that love comes in various colors and sizes, and what seems to be the worst of circumstances can actually turn out to be a blessing."VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates)
“The gentle and sensitively told story of Sam, who longs for a father who suddenly and inexplicably left the family. Sam staggers under the burdens of uncertainty and fear as he and his mother are forced to live in reduced circumstances in a lower socio-economic neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. This paean to Baltimore is also a beautifully told bildungsroman; Fuqua pours his love for the old city into a carefully crafted and multilayered story. No library should be without it."YALSA -
"There's a strong sense of place in this ultimately warm, reassuring novel set in a poor, racially tense Baltimore neighborhood. Themes of racism, urban violence, depression, and family structure threaded through the story make the book effective for discussion as well as for independent reading." (ON NAMING THE REAPPEARANCE OF SAM WEBBER AN ALEX AWARD-WINNER)Book Details
Published
April 25, 1999
Publisher
Bancroft Press
Pages
240
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9781890862916