Nine Man Tree

by Robert Newton Peck

From the author of the best-selling classic A Day No Pigs Would Die
In Depression-era Florida, twelve-year-old Yoolee's main concern in life is protecting his little sister, Havilah, and his long-suffering mother, Ruth Ann, from the violent rages of his alcoholic father. Then another horror enters their lives when the tiny swampland settlement is stalked by an enormous--and voracious--wild boar. When Yoolee's father disappears on a drunken binge, it's up to Yoolee to protect his family once again. In this spellbinding adventure and compelling coming-of-age novel, Robert Newton Peck continues his tradition of providing fine literature for young adult readers.  

Genres: Young Adult, Fiction

192 pages, Hardcover

First published August 25, 1998

About the author

Robert Newton Peck is an American author of books for young adults. His titles include Soup and A Day No Pigs Would Die. He claims to have been born on February 17, 1928, in Vermont, but has refused to specify where. Similarly, he claims to have graduated from a high school in Texas, which he has also refused to identify. Some sources state that he was born in Nashville, Tennessee (supposedly where his mother was born, though other sources indicate she was born in Ticonderoga, New York, and that Peck, himself, may have been born there). The only reasonably certain Vermont connection is that his father was born in Cornwall.

Peck has written over sixty books including a great book explaining his childhood to becoming a teenager working on the farm called: A Day no Pigs would Die

He was a smart student, although his schooling was cut short by World War II. During and shortly after the conflict, he served as a machine-gunner in the U.S. Army 88th Infantry Division. Upon returning to the United States, he entered Rollins College, graduating in 1953. He then entered Cornell Law School, but never finished his course of study.

Newton married Dorothy Anne Houston and fathered two children, Anne and Christopher. The best man at the wedding and the godfather to the children was Fred Rogers of Mr. Roger's Neighborhood fame.

A Day No Pigs Would Die was his first novel, published in 1972 when he was already 44 years old. From then on he continued his lifelong journey through literature. To date, he has been credited for writing 55 fiction books, 6 nonfiction books, 35 songs, 3 television specials and over a hundred poems.

Several of his historical novels are about Fort Ticonderoga: Fawn, Hang for Treason, The King's Iron.

In 1993, Peck was diagnosed with oral cancer, but survived. As of 2005, he was living in Longwood, Florida, where he has in the past served as the director of the Rollins College Writers Conference. Peck sings in a barbershop quartet, plays ragtime piano, and is an enthusiastic speaker. His hobby is visiting schools, "to turn kids on to books."

—From Wikipedia

For more information, please see http://www.answers.com/topic/robert-n...

Reviews

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good coming-of-age story with southern dialog and characters. A little bit spiritual, a little bit all-too-realistic. I love Robert Newton Peck for writing "A Day No Pigs Would Die", so I had to read this book. He's a real farmer, southern gentleman with a good respect for Nature. Not his best but still recommmended.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

incredibly and surprisingly well written. A young adult novel about serious issues in a young man's life in the Everglades.