Richard and Boo
An Unforgettable Backwoods Adventure
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
His mother picked up the suitcase. "Rich take this, I think you have everything you’ll need, so we had better get going. We should give ourselves plenty of time to get to the station before the train is scheduled to leave. You can’t stall anymore." "OK, OK, but I really hate this," he grumbled. He’d been looking forward to a summer of climbing on the billboards that were just put up in the vacant lot next door, or walking through China Town, or playing in the elevator of his apartment building when the manager wasn't around. He also was planning on practicing skating on the school grounds. He was trying to sharpen up his skating so he could look good at the rink where he went every Saturday afternoon. There was a girl that he had met there that he liked a lot, her name was Mary. Last Saturday he got up the nerve to ask her to pairs-skate with him and she said OK. That was really something. They took hold of each others hands and skated side by side. They were swaying back and forth and it was pretty dreamy. Rich felt like he was floating way above the floor. Then, out of nowhere. Mary went sliding across the floor on her stomach, skinning one of her elbows and her knee. Darn, Rich thought. She has to be really mad because it’s my fault. I tripped her. I’m so stupid. Rich went over to the side and worked his way back and helped her up. He said, "Gee Mary, I‘m really sorry." He felt really dumb and clumsy. "Let me help you to the office, they have something to put on those skins." She said, "Oh, I’ve fallen many times, don’t worry about it. But maybe it would be a good idea to put something on them". Mary put out her hand for Rich to help her. Rich was feeling like his head was going to blow-up. She was so wonderful. I’m not going to let anything stupid like that happen again. But she’d probably start liking somebody else by the time I get back. All she‘ll remember is my tripping her and her sprawling across the floor." He knew he was feeling really sorry for himself; but this summer was going to be lousy, except for not having to go to school I’m twelve years old, and instead of spending the summer at home in San Francisco having fun with a girl I like, I’m going to Aunt Ethel’s dumb little town of Quilcene, Washington. "Mom, don't make me go," he begged. Mom wasn’t listening. Richard did make the trip OK, surviving a couple of interesting mishaps but nothing compared to the experiences he had after he got to Quilcene.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
This story is about a big city kid and the unforgettable summer adventure he and a couple of small town kids had when rescuing and caring for a little seal.
Rich was not very happy about having to go to a small town 750 miles away to spend his summer vacation with total strangers, except for his aunt who was an older, unmarried Quaker minister. No, he was not happy about it at all, but his summer turned out to be an adventure that he and his new friends found really exciting.
You never know about summer vacations.
Read about Rich’s summer of trains, ferryboats, new friends, a stranded baby seal, and scary experiences. Share the laughs, tears and nail biting.
The book includes some illustrations.
Thank you, Howard Houck
About the Author
Howard Houck spent most of his childhood living on a farm in Oregon. His family moved to the San Francisco Bay area when he was in the seventh grade. He returned to the farm in Oregon when he was sixteen. He attended Oregon State University and earned a degree from Lewis and Clark University in Portland. Later he earned a Masters Degree in Education Specializing in Developmental and Remedial Reading. He worked for 20 years as a reading specialist and teacher in junior and senior high schools in the Bay Area. He is now a full time faculty member in the Benerd School of Education at the University of the Pacific in Stockton, California. Howard is married with a large family. He lives in a little town near the University. A large part of the book, Richard and Boo is fiction but the experience with Boo is essentially true.