Jim the Boy is the 2000 novel by Tony Earley.  I bought my copy in the bookstore in Paris Ontario, a bookstore from an other era, where the fellow who runs the place proudly stocks books he likes and cares about. I don’t know what it is about the book that struck my while I was in there browsing. I picked it up, flipped through it, read the back cover, and opened a few random passages which I devoured in the store. It’s appropriate I bought my copy in a small town since the book takes us to the fictional village of Aliceville in North Carolina.

It’s a disarming book, very simply the story of a boy, Jim, in his 10th year. It’s set during the depression, at a time when electricity was coming to the town, a time when the the old village school and the old mountain school both closed, and a new bigger school for the town kids and the mountain kids opened in Aliceville, just awaiting ceilings and electricity to be complete.

Jim lives in town with his mother and near his 3 uncles, who help raise him. Jim’s father died shortly before Jim was born. We get to watch Jim begin to grow up, learn many new things, discover his past, and begin to learn about himself. Ordinary events seem big when you’re 10, and we see Jim dealing with his town changing, experiencing the complexities and joy of friendship, growing up with his unmarried uncles stepping into father-figure roles.

The prose is simple and flows beautifully, simple and kind of sweet, without becoming saccharin. I found it deftly took me right into Jim’s world.

This is not the kind of book I would normally choose to read, but I like doing that sometimes. It’s so easy to be closed-minded. I really glad I picked it up and read it, and I recommend it to you too. A free copy of Jim the Boy is available right now in the 27th Street Book Box.