E-book
Bucking the Sarge [electronic resource] / Christopher Paul Curtis.
Deeply involved in his cold and manipulative mother's shady business dealings in Flint, Michigan, fourteen-year-old Luther keeps a sense of humor while running the Happy Neighbor Group Home For Men, all the while dreaming of going to college and becoming a philosopher.
Record details
- ISBN: 9780307567253 (electronic bk.)
- ISBN: 0307567257 (electronic bk.)
- Physical Description: 1 online resource.
- Publisher: New York : Random House Children's Books, 2009.
Content descriptions
| General Note: | Title from eBook information screen. A readers guide at back of book. |
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| Genre: | Electronic books. Fiction. Juvenile works. |
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Electronic resources
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2004 July #1
/*Starred Review*/ Gr. 5-9. Curtis moves from the historical fiction of The Watsons Go to Birmingham-1963 (1995) and his Newbery Medal-winner Bud, Not Buddy (1999) to the contemporary scene in this hilarious, anguished novel set in his hometown of Flint, Michigan. The narrator is smart, desperate 15-year-old Luther (not Loser, as some call him) Farrell, who speaks with wit, wisdom, and heartbreaking realism about family, work, school, friends, and enemies. He hates his vicious mom (the "Sarge"), who has made herself rich by milking the system, including evicting poor families from slum housing. Luther's job is to care for four men in Sarge's Adult Rehab Center, another scam. At school he wants to win the science fair medal again, even if his rival is the girl he has loved since kindergarten. Bits of philosophy from Luther's various mentors, who range from Socrates to Judge Judy, blend with the comedy and sorrow. There are some real surprises in plot and character, including a substitute parent Luther finds in an unexpected place and a science project that does change the world. His schemes of revenge and escape are barely credible, but the farce and the failure tell the truth in this gripping story. ((Reviewed July 2004)) Copyright 2004 Booklist Reviews. - BookPage Reviews : BookPage Reviews 2004 October
Seeking revenge against the SargeYou have to give him credit. Christopher Paul Curtis could have stuck with writing the kind of books that have already brought him much acclaim. The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 and Bud, Not Buddy are both historical novels for intermediate readers, and both have been hugely successful. Bucking the Sarge, however, is a contemporary novel for older readers. Its protagonist is 15-year-old Luther T. Farrell, who goes to Whittier Middle School, runs the Happy Neighbor Group Home for Men, has an illegal driver's license and keeps a condom named Chauncey in his wallet. Chauncey and that wallet had been together so long that "Chauncey had worn a circle right in the leather, and a circle ain't nothing but a great big zero, which was just about my chances of ever busting Chauncey loose and using him."
And, thus, the comic tone of the novel is established. If Luther seems older than he is and his voice seems a little worldly and swaggering for a 15-year-old, you just have to figure his mother made him that way for her own purposes; she's a very calculating woman. This is a wholly original, latter-day urban Robin Hood tale, where Luther discredits his reputation as a loser and sets out for revenge against his mother, aka the Sarge.
Mrs. Farrell has become fabulously wealthy by creating an empire of slum housing in Flint, Michigan. Luther spends most of his time avoiding the Sarge's coffin smile and Darth Vader voice as she directs him and her hoodlum associates in a web of evil doings.
Luther wants out. He wants to be the world's greatest philosopher, not some spider in his mother's web. So, he sets in motion a plan to redistribute her wealth via a science fair competition. In a brilliant, comic series of events involving his mom's safety deposit boxes and a large-scale distribution of ice cream cones, $200 Air Jordans and Armani suits, Luther takes from the rich and gives to the poor before heading out of Flint in a Buick Riviera that, just minutes before, had belonged to the Sarge's partner.
There's not another young adult novel like this one, and readers will cheer the high spirits and good nature of Luther T. Farrell, loser no more.
Dean Schneider teaches middle school English in Nashville. Copyright 2004 BookPage Reviews.
- Horn Book Guide Reviews : Horn Book Guide Reviews 2005 Spring
Curtis's latest novel is set in Flint, Michigan; his protagonist, Luther T. Farrell, is fifteen going on thirty. Luther must deal with the moral bankruptcy of his mother, an unscrupulous loan shark, slumlord, and scam artist known as the Sarge. Luther is a vintage Curtis hero, with a keen eye for human inconsistencies, a self-deprecating sense of humor, and a genuine inner sweetness. Copyright 2005 Horn Book Guide Reviews. - Horn Book Magazine Reviews : Horn Book Magazine Reviews 2004 #5
Curtis's (The Watsons Go to Birmingham -- 1963; Bud, Not Buddy) latest novel is set in contemporary Flint, Michigan; his protagonist, Luther T. Farrell, is fifteen going on thirty. By the time Luther turned twelve, his mother, a thoroughly unscrupulous loan shark, slumlord, and scam artist known as the Sarge, had obtained for him an illegal driver's license and installed him as caretaker at a group home for elderly men. Between dishing out ramen and meds and helping the Sarge's sidekick evict tenants who have fallen behind on their rent, Luther spends time with his friend Sparky and works at studying philosophy and becoming the three-time champion of his school science fair. Luther mostly deals with the moral bankruptcy of the Sarge's activities by being matter-of-fact and task-oriented, but occasionally he is unavoidably confronted with the humanity and suffering of her victims. Fortunately for the reader faced with such bleakness, Luther is a vintage Curtis hero, with a keen eye for human inconsistencies, a self-deprecating sense of humor, and a genuine inner sweetness that never slips into self-righteousness. Luther triumphs perhaps too easily and thoroughly over the Sarge (a two-dimensional villain, reminiscent of the Warden in Sachar's Holes), but it is hard to begrudge either Curtis or Luther their happy ending. Copyright 2004 Horn Book Magazine Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2004 August #1
Luther's hard-driving mother, "Sarge," has built personal life and financial empire (slum housing, group homes, loan sharking business) through belief in two things: herself and money. Luther is exploited no less than her "clients." At 13, he got a forged driver's license and the responsibility for running The Happy Neighbor Group Home for Men. Years later, Luther's life is a grind of responsibility at the home and striving at school. When Luther's science fair project-on the dangers of lead paint-promises to cost Sarge (whose apartments are painted with it) money and jail time, she ruthlessly cuts him adrift. In a conclusion that avoids contrivance through his comic use of organizational list-making, Luther, who is thoroughly decent despite everything, shrewdly gets all he's owed and declares his independence. In Curtis's hands, this is darkly funny as he deftly paints his Runyonesque cast of characters as broadly as the side of the Buick Riviera driven by Darnell, Sarge's "rent-a-thug." Told in Luther's jivey, colloquial voice, enriched by Curtis's cast of large-hearted survivors, and enlivened by his coruscating style, this is another winner-or, as Luther might say, a "three-peat." (Fiction. 10-16) Copyright Kirkus 2004 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved. - Library Media Connection : Library Media Connection Reviews 2004 October
Christopher Paul Curtis targets a more mature audience in this title. Fifteen-year-old Luther T. Farrell's wallet contains a driver's license that says he's eighteen, a title to an eighty-five thousand dollar vehicle, three credit cards, a fifty-dollar bill, and Chauncey, "the oldest condom on the face of the earth." Despite his seemingly enviable life, Luther longs to get out of his hometown of Flint, Michigan, and wishes he could escape his mother's (the Sarge) empire of slum housing and group homes. He wants to follow his own dream of college and a future as "America's best-known and best-loved philosopher." Luther's best friend is Sparky, who encourages him in his plan to escape by entertaining readers with his various moneymaking schemes. Luther's love interest is Shayla, the undertaker's daughter, and his nemesis in the annual Science Fair. Currently, Sarge has Luther living with and caring for the residents of her Happy Neighbor Group Home for Men. These colorful characters add fun as well as sensitivity to this enjoyable yet sometimes complex story. The reader is subtlety introduced to both sides of the politics of society and its various treatments of children, the poor, and the elderly. Upon completing the book, readers will be left wondering what will become of these special characters they've come to love and may even hope for a sequel to Bucking the Sarge. Highly Recommended. Kathryn A. Childs, Library Media Specialist, Morris (Oklahoma) Middle/High School © 2004 Linworth Publishing, Inc. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2006 May #5
PW's starred review said, "Featuring characters so lively they seem to jump off the page and a gratifying resolution, this vibrant modern-day battle between greed and morality proves that there is more than one way to come out on top." Ages 12-up. (May) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2004 July #3
Curtis (Bud, Not Buddy; The Watsons Go to Birmingham) invites readers to visit present-day Flint, Mich., and to meet one of its wealthiest 15-year-olds, Luther T. Farrell. From the outside, narrator Luther's life might seem enviable. He drives a luxury vehicle, using a "for-real, honest-to-God, straight from the Secretary of State phony driver's license" that says he's 18. His education fund is worth $92,510 and he's a top student on his way to becoming the winner of the Whittier Middle School science fair for the third consecutive year. The down side: Luther is constantly kept under the thumb of his hyperstrict mother, "the Sarge," a woman who has lied, cheated and extorted her way to "own[ing] half the ghetto." When not in school, Luther is put in charge of doing the Sarge's dirty work, cleaning out the rat-infested apartments of evicted tenants and taking care of the elderly residents at the adult rehabilitation center owned by his mother. Happiness and independence seem out of Luther's reach until he devises a way to "buck" the Sarge the same way she has "bucked" the system. The hero's sense of humor and his interest in philosophy bring levity to Luther's bleak trappings. Featuring characters so lively they seem to jump off the page and a gratifying resolution in which all characters get their comeuppance, this vibrant modern-day battle between greed and morality proves that there is more than one way to come out on top. Ages 10-up. (Sept.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. - School Library Journal Reviews : SLJ Reviews 2004 September
Gr 8 Up-Luther's mother, "the Sarge," runs an empire of Flint, MI, slums and halfway houses, and has a loan-sharking business. At age 15, Luther manages one of her halfway houses, drives the residents around in a van with an illegal license, and readies the homes of evicted tenants for the Sarge's next desperate victims. In exchange, she puts his earnings in a college fund, threatens him into submission, and primes him to take over the business. All Luther wants to do is win the school science fair, think deep thoughts, find some action for the vintage condom in his wallet, and do something honest with his life. Curtis tells the teen's story with his usual combination of goofy humor, tongue-in-cheek corniness, and honest emotion. Accordingly, Luther narrates the absurd, embarrassing details of his life with both adult sensitivity and teen crassness. The dialogue between Luther and Sparky, his "womb to tomb" best friend, is at turns hilarious and touching. The Sarge herself is so convincingly sharp-tongued, shrewd, and despicable that she's the novel's juiciest character. The plot unfolds slowly at first, and teens may lose patience with Luther's tendency to feel sorry for himself. However, once his confidence begins to build, the story keeps a quickening pace with his character arc. His final revenge on the Sarge is so deftly constructed and the novel's resolution so satisfying that it makes up for the occasional lag in the lead-up. Any teen who's ever wanted to stick it to the man (or woman) will love this story.-Johanna Lewis, New York Public Library Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information. - Voice of Youth Advocates Reviews : VOYA Reviews 2004 October
Newbery award-winning author Curtis aims for an older audience and hits a bull's-eye with this darker and uglier contemporary portrait of his native Flint, Michigan. Ninth-grader Luther T. Farrell loathes his greedy, loan-sharking, slumlord mother, known to everyone as "the Sarge," who milks the system to take advantage of disadvantaged, elderly, and low-income people. Even more loathsome is his mother's henchman/lover, Darnell Dixon, who has no compunction about breaking all the rules and forces Luther to do some of the dirty work. Luther's dream is to escape Flint forever, and winning his third science fair will put him on track for college. Luther gets the opportunity to break ties with his mother once and for all and expose her for the villain she is when his science project, about the effects of lead paint on the development of children, ties for first place. Luther's project prompts the mayor's office to launch a citywide investigation that means big trouble for the Sarge, who years ago fraudulently obtained and used lead paint for her properties. Infuriated, the Sarge tells Luther to pack his bags, but he finds her stash of hidden money, takes enough to pay for college, and heads down south to pursue his dream. This superbly crafted story is populated by memorable quirky characters, such as Luther's best friend, Sparky, and his mysterious octogenarian roommate. As in Curtis's other novels, there is plenty of hilarity. At the core of the story, though, is Luther's profoundly inspiring determination to stay true to his values and to force his mother to answer for her many transgressions. No library should be without it.-Ed Sullivan PLB $17.99. ISBN 0-385-90159-3. 5Q 5P J S Copyright 2004 Voya Reviews.
