Around 5:00 a.m. on a warm Sunday morning on October 1953, my Aunt Belle left her bed and vanished from the face of the earth.
Everyone in Coal Station, Virginia, has a theory about what happened to Belle Prater, but twelve-year-old Gypsy wants the facts, and when her cousin Woodrow, Aunt Belle''s son moves next door, she has her chance. Woodrow isn''t as forthcoming as Gypsy hopes, yet he becomes more than just a curiosity to her-- during their sixth-grade year she finds that they have enough in common to be best friends. Even so, Gypsy is puzzled by Woodrow''s calm acceptance of his mother''s disappearance, especially since she herself has never gotten over her father''s death. When Woodrow finally reveals that he''s been keeping a secret about his mother, Gypsy begins to understand that there are different ways of finding the strength to face the truth, no matter how painful it is.
Belle Prater''s Boy is a 1996 Boston Globe - Horn Book Awards Honor Book for Fiction and a 1997 Newbery Honor Book.
弗吉尼亚煤站镇的每个人对于贝拉·普拉特的遭遇都有自己的看法,但是十二岁的吉普茜想弄清楚事情的真相。当她的表哥伍德罗—贝拉小姨的儿子搬到隔壁和外公外婆一起住时,她终于有了机会。虽然伍德罗并没有提供多少信息,但他也不像她认为的那样呆板和迟钝;相反,在共同上学的日子里,她发现他们俩有很多共同之处,并从此成为最好的朋友。然而,吉普茜还是对伍德罗平静地接受他妈妈的失踪感到困惑。因为,她一直没有从她爸爸的死亡中恢复过来。当伍德罗终于说出他一直保守着的关于他妈妈的一个秘密时,吉普茜开始慢慢懂得:无论真相多么令人痛苦,你都可以通过不同方式找到力量来面对。
Ruth White is the author of Sweet Creek Holler, an ALA Notable Book, and Weeping Willow, an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. She lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia.