Tyler, Wilkin, and Skee: A Novel [Hardcover]

ROBERT BURCH has been praised by Atlanta Weekly magazine as "the author of some of the finest, most satisfying books for young people to be written in the South in this century." Author of nineteen books for children, Burch is a three-time winner of the Georgia Children's Book Award, an honor bestowed by the schoolchildren of the state. His story Queenie Peavy is a winner of the Children's Literature Association's Phoenix Award. He is a native of Fayette County, Georgia.

What is it like to grow up during the Depression on a small Georgia farm, where there is no electricity and the nearest paved road is miles away? For Tyler, Wilkin, and Skee, the Coley boys, it means they do morning chores when most kids in town are still asleep, and they get practical things for Christmas, such as overalls, instead of toys.

But country kids like Tyler, Wilkin, and Skee have their share of fun. Whether playing kick-the-can and handy-over, raising a prize calf, or visiting a neighbor for an evening of singing and blackbottom pie, they are never short of ways to amuse themselves. And they know work is easier when it's turned into a game.

Robert Burch's novel of one year in the lives of these brothers who are also best friends is rich in details of a way of life that is still followed in many areas of the rural South. From their speech and dress to the ways they spend their days and nights to the matters close to their hearts, Burch's characters are genuine in every way.

As real and fresh as paint

The warmth of family relationships, the sound values, homely humor, and careful attention to period detail make this a story to join the 'Little House' books [and] the Lois Lenski regional stories.