Buckaroo

This first novel tackles the thorny issue of prejudice in the American South, ca. 1958, but the flimsy, stereotypical characters do not stand up to the weighty themes. After the death of his mother and the rapid remarriage of his smooth-talking salesman father, 11-year-old narrator Preston is sent to live with his great-aunt Eugenia in Cotton Patch, Ark. Eugenia embarrasses him with her free-thinking ways, especially when she insists he rake leaves with Ivy, a black girl. Although he has imbibed his father's racist beliefs and fears losing his new best friend (who won't associate with a colored girl), Preston forges a friendship with Ivy. Gradually he reevaluates his beliefs and the segregated society around him. The narrative claims strength in relationships that seem overblown; for example, after a few intense encounters with Ivy, Preston observes that he misses her even more than his absent father. Prose thick with labored descriptions (""His mother's eyes were sleepy brown, flecked with egg-yolk yellow"") strains to relay a plot overburdened with pat elements: Ivy's and Preston's mothers' linked pasts, a decrepit mansion cum haunted house, a stray dog adopted in secret, an escaped convict and a big bad bully. However promising these ingredients may sound, they don't jell into anything readers can sink their teeth into. Ages 9-12. (Aug.)