An American Ghost, and: Benson Boy, and: Red Pawns, and: Stout-Hearted Seven, and: An American Conscience: Woodrow Wilson's Search for World Peace, and: The Magic Man: The Life of Robert-Houdin, and: Snow Bound, and: A Figure of Speech, and: Millie's Boy, and: A Day No Pigs Would Die (review)

The present sampling of children's books is by and large an encouraging one. The books vary considerably in subject, appeal, and merit, but in most of them there is evidence that the author takes the child seriously. Some of the books concentrate on traditional adventure, but a few mix into the adventure some psychologizing which not only rings true to childhood in general, but which tries to pinpoint some of the current cultural manifestations of the problems and adventures of growing up. One of the things which the adult reader may stop to ponder in reading some of these books is how specific an introduction to evil the child reader is ready for at various ages.

Benson Boy is an engrossing tale about a young boy who is obliged as a result of accidents to care for his mother as she is having a baby. He is not too clear about where babies come from and he fulfills his responsibility with a mixture of resentment, fear, and bravery. The threats he faces are dark of night, storm, fire, and incomprehensible adult behavior.

There is tension at every moment in the story, the resolution of one crisis introducing the boy hero into another critical situation. It is a natural book to read at one sitting and will probably be read by young readers as unexceptionably plausible. If there is anything in the story which may not sit well with young readers, it will probably be the boy's unnecessarily extensive reflections on his own feelings.

The story brings its hero face to face with such human obstacles as the extreme pigheadedness of his father and the feud between his father and a neighbor over political philosophies. These things are on a par with the mother's child-bearing as far as semi-comprehensibility goes. The story is well calculated to bring young readers up to a frontier of unfamiliarity, but in such a way that the discoveries, or not-quite-discoveries, are exciting without being disturbing. The story gains a certain interest from being set in Australia.

An American Ghost is an adventure that tests its fourteen-year-old hero up to and beyond limits which most fourteen year olds would be familiar with. At least it would seem so if we can assume that most fourteen year olds are not up to duplicating the adventures of Huck Finn.

The central action of the story resembles the action of Huckleberry Finn at many points. The young hero's home is washed down river in a flood. He is alone in the house and his voyage brings him into contact with some river hoodlums who are superb bad guys. They are a lot like the murderers in chapter 12 of Huckleberry Finn, but the hero of this tale...