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Coming-of-age tales have dotted the literary landscape for centuries. Charles Dickens certainly made the most of the form in Great Expectations. Mark Twain put a particularly American flavor to the genre with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Somewhat more recently, S. E. Hinton was only eighteen years old when her novel, The Outsiders, explored young people in rival gangs. Multiple adolescents, all male, populate the pages of Mr. Bass’s novel, Skipper, which interestingly isn’t actually the name of the central character, but rather the nickname of the individual who would have a lasting impact on Greg, the young man who would learn and grow in this coming-of-age story.
The author opens quite dramatically. Greg is dropped off at his home by his scoutmaster, only to find that two government agents are sitting with his parents waiting for him. They want to ask if Skipper, the scoutmaster, has physically molested him or any of his scout mates. It’s up to the remainder of the book to answer that question.
Bass has set his novel in the 1950’s. Greg is a young boy bounced from one end of the country to another as his mother and father are divorced, and his mother’s new boyfriend (eventually to become his stepdad) is less than thrilled with having a rambunctious child to oversee. When the lad’s not attending Catholic boarding schools, he’s keeping himself busy with library books and double features at the cinema. Eventually, he joins a Boy Scout troop that will change his life forever.
Greg begins to spend all his weekends, and multiple weeks in the summer, with three other scouts and their leader at an idyllic ranch. There he learns the virtues of hard work, the enjoyment of nature, the thrill of fishing, and the satisfaction of camaraderie with his friends. Plus, he comes to know and learn from Skipper, a seemingly kind and giving man who imports one life-lesson after another to Greg and his pals. As readers share the young boy’s trials and triumphs, the specter of something darker looms ever present—seeded by the author’s unsettling opening.
Bass tells his tale in the third-person—frequently sliding into Greg’s first-person voice, both externally and internally. He writes straightforwardly, much like a young person would recount his remembrances. Exceptionally detailed when it comes to particular activities such as tobacco farming and fish cleaning, the author is also adept at bringing action to life. His depiction of the perilously prolonged birth of a calf is as fascinating and compelling as his imagery of a shark hunt gone bad. While he relies on religion as a key element in the story, it is always used from the point of view of the protagonist. Intense introspection, not moral pronouncements, is this author’s favored approach. From time to time, Bass’s prose feels repetitive, and he shows a tendency to overindulge in detail at the expense of pace. Yet his tale maintains a compelling quality that pushes readership along. You care about Greg. You want to know the truth about Skipper. You are reluctant to stray too far from the next chapter. In summary, this is a coming-of-age tale that readers of all ages will likely find well worth their time.