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Tough Chauncey
Abused by his grandfather and neglected by his mother, a "tough" thirteen-year-old sees running away as the only solution to changing his life until a friend opens his eyes to an alternative.
Hardcover
First published January 1, 1974
13 people want to read
About the author
Doris Buchanan Smith
30 books19 followersDoris Buchanan Smith (June 1, 1934 – August 8, 2002) was an American author of award-winning children's novels, including A Taste of Blackberries (1973).
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 27, 2025
"Chauncey Childs was small for thirteen and as thin and tight as a guy wire."
I've known the opening passage to TOUGH CHAUNCEY by heart since it was published in 1974, and even though my own mother wrote it, I have only now finished reading it.
It brought back memories of growing up in Southeast Georgia, where mom wrote most of her 17 books for children and young adults, and where I ran away from as quickly as I could find the wherewithal. It was not the town or the people that I fled, but a reality I could not contend with.
I've known the opening passage to TOUGH CHAUNCEY by heart since it was published in 1974, and even though my own mother wrote it, I have only now finished reading it.
It brought back memories of growing up in Southeast Georgia, where mom wrote most of her 17 books for children and young adults, and where I ran away from as quickly as I could find the wherewithal. It was not the town or the people that I fled, but a reality I could not contend with.
March 1, 2023
My mum read this book to me when I was about 9 and I read it myself at that time, too.
This was a very powerful book, and I remember loving it. After YEARS of remembering this book but being unable to remember the title, I asked the Goodreads group "What's the name of that book" for help back in 2019 and someone found it!
It's on the InternetArchive (https://archive.org/details/toughchau...).
I skimmed it to be sure that it was the book I was searching for, and I'm putting it back on my to-read list.
This was one of my early introductions to the idea that families can be abusive towards their children. Having loving and caring parents myself, the concept was very hard to grasp at my young age. The child abuse and animal abuse was heartbreaking, but I still remember how much I loved the character development.
To my recollection, this sits in my reading memories alongside The Pinballs and A Solitary Blue.
This was a very powerful book, and I remember loving it. After YEARS of remembering this book but being unable to remember the title, I asked the Goodreads group "What's the name of that book" for help back in 2019 and someone found it!
It's on the InternetArchive (https://archive.org/details/toughchau...).
I skimmed it to be sure that it was the book I was searching for, and I'm putting it back on my to-read list.
This was one of my early introductions to the idea that families can be abusive towards their children. Having loving and caring parents myself, the concept was very hard to grasp at my young age. The child abuse and animal abuse was heartbreaking, but I still remember how much I loved the character development.
To my recollection, this sits in my reading memories alongside The Pinballs and A Solitary Blue.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews