Skeeter

Two boys, exuberant Joey and quiet, intuitive Steve, hope to enhance their hunting skills through practice. They stumble upon the best hunting terrain in the area, which belongs to Skeeter Hawkins. Skeeter catches the boys trespassing but does not live up to his reputation as an ornery recluse. Instead, he invites Joey and Steve back and, when they return, teaches them the strange but successful techniques for bagging the big one. They are inspired to carve after seeing the expert carving on Skeeter's guns. And they learn about girl-boy relationships as well as the art of training a good hunting dog. While the plot is exciting and emotionally charged, it is also annoying and unrealistic. For example, these two teenage boys speak unnaturally perfect English, in extreme contrast to Skeeter's Black dialect. And the cursory attempt to deal with the real issues of prejudice, death and personal relationships is bogged down in a morass of stereotypical incidents. Ages 10-14. (Apr . )