The Last of the Whistler Author:John Dashney 1953: Eisenhower becomes President. The Korean War finally ends in a stalemate. Elizabeth II is crowned Queen of Great Britain. Stalin dies. Mt. Everest is climbed for the first time. And in Morrisonville, Oregon, Alec Lewis discovers girls—though at the age of eleven he’s not quite sure what to do about it. Challenged by his aunt to keep... more » a journal of the year, Alec begins by recording the news and ends up making it. He also begins working as a paperboy for the Oregon Journal, defends his title as the best stretch and mumblety-peg player in the sixth grade and tries to figure out why girls act the way they do. A chance decision to help one girl recite a poem for Armistice Day leads Alec into a series of increasingly wild adventures as he befriends first the rich but terribly shy and insecure Mary Alice and then the dirt-poor, happy-go-lucky Bonnybelle. Finally Alec must answer the ultimate question: Will he put his own life on the line to save a friend?« less