Meely LA Bauve Author:Ken Wells Fifteen-year-old Meely LaBauve is growing up on Catahoula Bayou and living by his wits. His father is an alligator hunter, having never quite coped with the death of his wife eight years earlier. He hides in hooch and companionable women and disappears for days at a time. For Meely, school is a long, dusty walk away in a place where truancy isn'... more »t a top concern. "Up at Catahoula School, we've got all the grades. I'm in ninth when I'm in anything," says Meely. But the law has it out for Meely's dad, and Junior, the sheriff's nephew and local bully, considers badgering Meely his favorite sport. When the LaBauves find themselves in the sheriff's sights, it takes baseball bats, fire ants, flying alligators, misidentified corpses, and a lot of fast thinking to set things right.
Not since Huck Finn rafted down the Mississippi has there been a coming-of-age story like this, told in such an utterly authentic American voice. From a charming encounter with first love in Cancienne's corn patch to a startling look at race relations in the deep, deep South, Wells has cooked up a zesty gumbo of a book--rich, poignant, and, at times, hilarious.« less