The Season of Styx Malone

Kekla Magoon writes in so many different genres. You should try some of her books--I’ve liked most of them. In this novel, I was confronted with what people are thinking that I could never understand. Now I know what is going through some kids’ heads when they do things that make me shake my

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head.

Caleb wants to be more than ordinary. His father is content living in their small town; he won’t even let them go on field trips to the nearby large town to see the museum. He feels the town knows them and they are safe; if they go too far, they may take risks he doesn’t want to take as a black family--or that’s what I assumed was his reasoning. His father often tells Caleb he is extraordinary, which Caleb interprets as being really, really ordinary. He wants adventure, freedom, and choice. In walks Styx Malone.

Bobby Gene is Caleb’s older brother. He and Caleb hang out together and plan on exploring the woods near their home. When he and Caleb give their baby sister away to a boy they always thought was a bully in exchange for fireworks, their summer plans change. Now they have to work with Cory--who really isn’t a bully--but does oddly love babies--doing chores for the summer. Cory wants his fireworks back, but the boys really want to keep them. In walks Styx Malone.

Styx offers to handle the situation with Cory. He figures out a compromise and offers it to Cory. Once Bobby Gene and Caleb see Styx’s ability with words and the ability to manipulate a situation, they are hooked, especially Caleb. Styx suggests they trade up. If they keep trading, they can trade to a motorized bike. Absolutely! Needless to say, Caleb and Bobby Gene begin to regularly get in trouble doing what their parents have forbidden although Bobby Gene has more common sense than Caleb; Bobby Gene goes along to keep on eye on Caleb. Styx makes everything so fun! Caleb loves the freedom of trying new things--who cares what his parents think! This thinking is what I have never understood. Why would anyone do some of the things they do? Caleb honestly wants the adventure and fears not having adventure. Styx’s life isn’t a bowl of cherries. The ultimate and inevitable culmination of events shows Caleb and his father that you can’t “be safe” or “have adventures” all the time. We are responsible for each other and to each other. These are the truths in this novel.

The cover looks a little childish, but don’t judge it by the cover. It’s a solid book for middle school.

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