THE SNOW TRAIN

Cummins employs a daring, high-risk conceit in his debut novel, telling his story from the viewpoint of a three-year-old boy named Robbie O'Connor whose life begins to go downhill as a skin disease takes control of his existence. Robbie is a bright, precocious protagonist whose circumstances beyond the illness seem perfectly suited for a happy upbringing—from his father's success as a car salesman in the small Midwestern town where they live to the charms of the boy's mother, an attractive and caring woman who writes poetry for the local paper. Cummins captures the vibrant, surreal and highly insecure world of a child as he brings Robbie to life, and he throws in some effective moments involving Robbie's aunt and her boyfriend, although the subplot involving the death of the boy's older sister is muddled and underdeveloped. The novel becomes especially affecting as Robbie's illness progresses and he enters the hospital for an experimental blood transfusion. A series of powerful scenes follow, including the death of a retarded boy from a similar skin condition, a phone call from Robbie's parents after a snowstorm that renders them unable to get to the hospital, and some memories from a veteran who ends up in the same hospital as Robbie. The repetitive descriptions of Robbie's trials can't carry the story through the entire novel, and the limitations of the boy's perspective ultimately prevent Cummins from branching out into more fertile narrative terrain. But given these restrictions, he is to be commended for the way he illuminates the terrors of childhood—both real and imagined. (Oct.)