Days of Little Texas
By R. A. Nelson
(Knopf Books for Young Readers, Library Binding, 9780375955938, 400pp.)
Publication Date: July 14, 2009
Other Editions of This Title: Google eBook, Paperback, Hardcover, Compact Disc, Compact Disc, MP3 CD, MP3 CD, Hardcover
Categories: Horror & Ghost Stories, Social Issues - Values
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A ghostly love story from the author of Teach Me.
Welcome, all ye faithful—and otherwise—to a ghost story, a romance, and a reckoning unlike anything you’ve read before. Acclaimed YA author R. A. Nelson delivers a tantalizing tale set in the environs of the evangelical revival circuit and centered around Ronald Earl, who at ten became the electrifying “boy wonder” preacher known as Little Texas. Now sixteen, though the faithful still come and roar with praise and devotion, Ronald Earl is beginning to have doubts that he is worthy of and can continue his calling. Doubts that only intensify when his faith and life are tested by a mysterious girl who he was supposed to have healed, but who is now showing up at the fringe of every stop on the circuit. Is she merely devoted, or is she haunting him? Fascinating and original, this is an unusual story whose reverb will be deeply felt and which will inspire lively book discussion.
R. A. Nelson made his literary debut with the “terrifying [and] poetic” Teach Me, followed by the “incandescent” Breathe My Name (both quotes from Kirkus Reviews). He and his family live in north Alabama. Visit him on the Web at ranelson1.com.
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Starred Review, Publishers Weekly, July 6, 2009:
“Nelson offers no easy revelations, instead suggesting that human nature may be as unknowable as the supernatural."
Starred Review, The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, October 2009:
"The book's ethos, subtly evoked through its multidimensional characters, internal and external historical and contemporary conflicts, and intense supernatural climax, is one of a fully realized and respectful humanity, with all of its capacity for cruelty and kindness, spirituality and sinfulness, and ultimately, forgiveness and release."
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