Belle Prater's Boy

Belle Prater's Boy, a 1997 Newbery Honor winner, tells a story by 12-year-old Gypsy. Everyone in Coal Station, Virginia, has a theory about what happened to Belle Prater, but 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.