The Search for Belle Prater (review)

Ever since Woodrow Prater moved to Coal Station, Virginia, to live with his grandparents, the mystery of his mother's disappearance has haunted him, as it has no doubt haunted readers who took a shine to this warmhearted boy and his cousin Gypsy in the Newbery Honor book Belle Prater's Boy (BCCB 4/96). After tracing a mysterious phone call to Bluefield, West Virginia, Gypsy and Woodrow travel there by bus in the company of new schoolmate Cassie, who has the second sight. Along the way, they meet a wary African-American boy named Joseph, who is searching for his father. Cassie, Gypsy, and Woodrow help Joseph find his people but have no luck locating Belle, though Cassie later dreams that she did leave Woodrow a note, which they eventually find at the Prater cabin. While this sequel doesn't have the emotional intensity or thematic depth of the first book, the plot is well paced, and readers will be gratified when good things happen for Woodrow—he gets his eyes straightened and he is reunited with his mother, though certain parts of her disappearance remain a mystery. Aside from the occasional glitch, the 1950s setting is effectively realized, and the down-home warmth of the first book carries over through Gypsy's narration; her voice is as lilting and fresh as ever (and her jokes as memorable), and her character develops a more settled quality as her demons have been put to rest. Woodrow's candid and endearing simplicity continues to win him new and interesting friends with stories to tell. Reader left unsettled by the end of Belle Prater's Boy will not be disappointed by the rest of the story.