Crunch
By Leslie Connor
(Katherine Tegen Books, Hardcover, 9780061692291, 336pp.)
Publication Date: April 2010
Other Editions of This Title: Paperback
Categories: Family - Siblings, Lifestyles - Country Life, Mysteries, Espionage, & Detective Stories
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Dewey Marriss is stuck in the middle of a crunch.
He never guessed that the gas pumps would run dry the same week he promised to manage the family's bicycle-repair business. Suddenly everyone needs a bike. And nobody wants to wait.
Meanwhile, the crunch has stranded Dewey's parents far up north with an empty fuel tank and no way home. It's up to Dewey and his older sister, Lil, to look after their younger siblings and run the bike shop all on their own.
Each day Dewey and his siblings feel their parents' absence more and more. The Marriss Bike Barn is busier than ever. And just when he is starting to feel crunched himself, Dewey discovers that bike parts are missing from the shop. He's sure he knows who's responsible—or does he? Will exposing the thief only make more trouble for Dewey and his siblings?
Award-winning author Leslie Connor has created another timely family story infused with humor and hope.
Leslie Connor has her own memories of the energy crunch of the seventies, and she got to thinking: What comes after the long lines at the pumps? What if the earth's supply of gasoline were to finally run out? She tried to imagine what it would look like: "I saw bicycles. And I saw them taking to the highways. I also saw a changing value of goods and services. Then Dewey showed up on my shoulder to tell the story of these kids home alone, trying to keep up with operating a busy bike-repair shop and coping with the unfamiliar condition of suddenly having something everybody else wants." Leslie is the author of many award-winning books for children, including Waiting for Normal, winner of the ALA Schneider Family Book Award, Miss Bridie Chose a Shovel, and Dead on Town Line, a young-adult novel in verse. She lives with her family in Connecticut.
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