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OverviewAn overweight, sensitive boy gains the insight and strength to overcome his problems through his search for and discovery of a friend's grandfather, known as the Goat Man. Full Product DetailsAuthor: Betsy ByarsPublisher: Penguin Random House Children's UK Imprint: Puffin Books Edition: New edition Dimensions: Width: 12.80cm , Height: 0.80cm , Length: 19.80cm Weight: 0.119kg ISBN: 9780140315332ISBN 10: 0140315330 Pages: 128 Publication Date: 30 September 1982 Recommended Age: From 8 to 12 years Audience: Children/juvenile , Children / Juvenile Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Out of Print Availability: In Print Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock. Table of ContentsReviewsThe small cast - three children and a dispossessed old man whose shack is in the path of a new superhighway - sounds familiar, and the relatively short time span and few incidents make this more like a story than even a children's novel. And when the goat man withdraws from the world in his new project home, then sets off wordlessly to sit with a shotgun in the old one that's about to be bulldozed, Byars resorts to a bike accident that injures his grandson Figgy to bring the old man out of the shack and back to reality. The ending, in which a doctor called to the accident (he's the father of Ada, the third child) resolves to find a farm for Figgy and his grandfather, is even more pat. But it is easy to identify and sympathize with overweight, daydreaming Harold, Figgy's new friend, whose very fantasies are expressed with a cant-mocking, self-deprecating wryness and whose apprehensive, lonely walk to fetch the armed goat man for his injured grandson is a modest act of courage. Figgy, too, with his fear of bicycles and his urchin's impulsiveness, is an appealing sketch, and if we never get behind what Harold considers Ada's remote, Egyptian look, her supportive competence is just what both boys need. Slight in body, trite in plot, but very nicely handled. (Kirkus Reviews) Author InformationTab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |