The Season of Styx Malone by Kekla Magoon
Published by Wendy Lamb Books on October 16th 2018
ISBN: 1524715956
Pages: 304
Goodreads

The Season of Styx Malone

 

The season of Styx is summer in Indiana in a book that is set in the present but has a feel of historical fiction.  Styx is a foster child who meets the main character, Caleb, and his brother, Bobby Gene, when he is staying nearby.  Caleb is mesmerized by everything Styx is:  adventurous, smart, and able to strike a deal in what is known as an escalator trade where one starts with a small trade and builds up to what is really wanted, in this case a moped.  Caleb and Bobby Gene have something to trade as they had parlayed their baby sister to their friend, Cory, who loved babies and had a bag of fireworks just waiting to be traded.  (Their baby sister had to be returned, but they kept the fireworks.)

The author, Kekla Magoon, was a Coretta Scott King honor book recipient for this book and it had four starred reviews.  It was excellent from start to finish as readers get inside the characters’ heads and understand their motivations.  The cover art is perfect with the depictions of Styx, Bobby Gene, and Caleb just as described in the text.

This book is aimed at students ages 8-12.

 

It is strongly recommended for Cream of the Crop.

 

Reviewed by Ellen Spring, Oceanside High School, Rockland