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The Madman of Piney Woods
Benji and Red couldn't be more different. They aren't friends. They don't even live in the same town. But their fates are entwined. A chance meeting leads the boys to discover that they have more in common than meets the eye. Both of them have encountered a strange presence in the forest, watching them, tracking them. Could the Madman of Piney Woods be real?
384 pages, Hardcover
First published September 30, 2014
53 people are currently reading
1949 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Paul Curtis
51 books1,233 followersCurtis was born in Flint, Michigan on May 10, 1953 to Dr. Herman Elmer Curtis, a chiropodist, and Leslie Jane Curtis, an educator. The city of Flint plays an important role in many of Curtis's books. One such example is Bucking the Sarge, which is about a fifteen year old boy named Luther T. Ferrel, who is in a running battle with his slum-lord mother. Curtis is an alumnus of the University of Michigan-Flint.
Curtis is the father of two children, Steven, an ensign in the United States Navy, and Cydney, a college student and accomplished pianist. His third child is expected to make an appearance in 2011. Christopher modeled characters in Bud, Not Buddy after his two grandfathers—Earl “Lefty” Lewis, a Negro league baseball pitcher, and 1930s bandleader Herman E. Curtis, Sr., of Herman Curtis and the Dusky Devastators of the Depression.
Curtis moved to Detroit, Michigan in January, 2009
Curtis is the father of two children, Steven, an ensign in the United States Navy, and Cydney, a college student and accomplished pianist. His third child is expected to make an appearance in 2011. Christopher modeled characters in Bud, Not Buddy after his two grandfathers—Earl “Lefty” Lewis, a Negro league baseball pitcher, and 1930s bandleader Herman E. Curtis, Sr., of Herman Curtis and the Dusky Devastators of the Depression.
Curtis moved to Detroit, Michigan in January, 2009
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July 24, 2014
No author hits it out of the park every time. No matter how talented or clever a writer might be, if their heart isn’t in a project it shows. In the case of Christopher Paul Curtis, when he loves what he’s writing the sheets of paper on which he types practically set on fire. When he doesn’t? It’s like reading mold. There’s life there, but no energy. Now in the case of his Newbery Honor book Elijah of Buxton, Curtis was doing gangbuster work. His blend of history and humor is unparalleled and you need only look to Elijah to see Curtis at his best. With that in mind I approached the companion novel to Elijah titled The Madman of Piney Woods with some trepidation. A good companion book will add to the magic of the original. A poor one, detract. I needn’t have worried. While I wouldn’t quite put Madman on the same level as Elijah, what Curtis does here, with his theme of fear and what it can do to a human soul, is as profound and thought provoking as anything he’s written in the past. There is ample fodder here for young brains. The fact that it’s a hoot to read as well is just the icing on the cake.
Two boys. Two lives. It’s 1901, forty years after the events in Elijah of Buxton and Benji Alston has only one dream: To be the world’s greatest reporter. He even gets an apprenticeship on a real paper, though he finds there’s more to writing stories than he initially thought. Meanwhile Alvin Stockard, nicknamed Red, is determined to be a scientist. That is, when he’s not dodging the blows of his bitter Irish granny, Mother O’Toole. When the two boys meet they have a lot in common, in spite of the fact that Benji’s black and Red’s Irish. They've also had separate encounters with the legendary Madman of Piney Woods. Is the man an ex-slave or a convict or part lion? The truth is more complicated than that, and when the Madman is in trouble these two boys come to his aid and learn what it truly means to face fear.
Let’s be plainspoken about what this book really is. Curtis has mastered the art of the Tom Sawyerish novel. Sometimes it feels like books containing mischievous boys have fallen out of favor. Thank goodness for Christopher Paul Curtis then. What we have here is a good old-fashioned 1901 buddy comedy. Two boys getting into and out of scrapes. Wreaking havoc. Revenging themselves on their enemies / siblings (or at least Benji does). It’s downright Mark Twainish (if that’s a term). Much of the charm comes from the fact that Curtis knows from funny. Benji’s a wry-hearted bigheaded, egotistical, lovable imp. He can be canny and completely wrong-headed within the space of just a few sentences. Red, in contrast, is book smart with a more regulation-sized ego but as gullible as they come. Put Red and Benji together and it’s little wonder they're friends. They compliment one another’s faults. With Elijah of Buxton I felt no need to know more about Elijah and Cooter’s adventures. With Madman I wouldn’t mind following Benji and Red's exploits for a little bit longer.
One of the characteristics of Curtis’s writing that sets him apart from the historical fiction pack is his humor. Making the past funny is a trick. Pranks help. An egotistical character getting their comeuppance helps too. In fact, at one point Curtis perfectly defines the miracle of funny writing. Benji is pondering words and wordplay and the magic of certain letter combinations. Says he, “How is it possible that one person can use only words to make another person laugh?” How indeed. The remarkable thing isn’t that Curtis is funny, though. Rather, it’s the fact that he knows how to balance tone so well. The book will garner honest belly laughs on one page, then manage to wrench real emotion out of you the next. The best funny authors are adept at this switch. The worst leave you feeling queasy. And Curtis never, not ever, gives a reader a queasy feeling.
Normally I have a problem with books where characters act out-of-step with the times without any outside influence. For example, I once read a Civil War middle grade novel that shall remain nameless where a girl, without anyone in her life offering her any guidance, independently came up with the idea that “corsets restrict the mind”. Ugh. Anachronisms make me itch. With that in mind, I watched Red very carefully in this book. Here you have a boy effectively raised by a racist grandmother who is almost wholly without so much as a racist thought in his little ginger noggin. How do we account for this? Thankfully, Red’s father gives us an “out”, as it were. A good man who struggles with the amount of influence his mother-in-law may or may not have over her redheaded grandchild, Mr. Stockard is the just force in his son’s life that guides his good nature.
The preferred writing style of Christopher Paul Curtis that can be found in most of his novels is also found here. It initially appears deceptively simple. There will be a series of seemingly unrelated stories with familiar characters. Little interstitial moments will resonate with larger themes, but the book won't feel like it’s going anywhere. Then, in the third act, BLAMMO! Curtis will hit you with everything he’s got. Murder, desperation, the works. He’s done it so often you can set your watch by it, but it still works, man. Now to be fair, when Curtis wrote Elijah of Buxton he sort of peaked. It’s hard to compete with the desperation that filled Elijah’s encounter with an enslaved family near the end. In Madman Curtis doesn’t even attempt to top it. In fact, he comes to his book’s climax from another angle entirely. There is some desperation (and not a little blood) but even so this is a more thoughtful third act. If Elijah asked the reader to feel, Madman asks the reader to think. Nothing wrong with that. It just doesn’t sock you in the gut quite as hard.
For me, it all comes down to the quotable sentences. And fortunately, in this book the writing is just chock full of wonderful lines. Things like, “An object in motion tends to stay in motion, and the same can be said of many an argument.” Or later, when talking about Red's nickname, “It would be hard for even as good a debater as Spencer or the Holmely boy to disprove that a cardinal and a beet hadn’t been married and given birth to this boy. Then baptized him in a tub of red ink.” And I may have to conjure up this line in terms of discipline and kids: “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink, but you can sure make him stand there looking at the water for a long time.” Finally, on funerals: “Maybe it’s just me, but I always found it a little hard to celebrate when one of the folks in the room is dead.”
He also creates little moments that stay with you. Kissing a reflection only to have your lips stick to it. A girl’s teeth so rotted that her father has to turn his head when she kisses him to avoid the stench (kisses are treacherous things in Curtis novels). In this book I’ll probably long remember the boy who purposefully gets into fights to give himself a reason for the injuries wrought by his drunken father. And there’s even a moment near the end when the Madman’s identity is clarified that is a great example of Curtis playing with his audience. Before he gives anything away he makes it clear that the Madman could be one of two beloved characters from Elijah of Buxton. It’s agony waiting for him to clarify who exactly is who.
Character is king in the world of Mr. Curtis. A writer who manages to construct fully three-dimensional people out of mere words is one to watch. In this book, Curtis has the difficult task of making complete and whole a character through the eyes of two different-year-old boys. And when you consider that they’re working from the starting point of thinking that the guy’s insane, it’s going to be a tough slog to convince the reader otherwise. That said, once you get into the head of the “Madman” you get a profound sense not of his insanity but of his gentleness. His very existence reminded me of similar loners in literature like Boys of Blur by N.D. Wilson or The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton, but unlike the men in those books this guy had a heart and a mind and a very distinctive past. And fears. Terrible, awful fears.
It’s that fear that gives Madman its true purpose. Red’s grandmother, Mother O’Toole, shares with the Madman a horrific past. They’re very different horrors (one based in sheer mind-blowing violence and the other in death, betrayal, and disgust) but the effects are the same. Out of these moments both people are suffering a kind of PTSD. This makes them two sides of the same coin. Equally wracked by horrible memories, they chose to handle those memories in different ways. The Madman gives up society but retains his soul. Mother O’Toole, in contrast, retains her sanity but gives up her soul. Yet by the end of the book the supposed Madman has returned to society and reconnected with his friends while the Irishwoman is last seen with her hair down (a classic madwoman trope as old as Shakespeare himself) scrubbing dishes until she bleeds to rid them of any trace of the race she hates so much. They have effectively switched places.
Much of what The Madman of Piney Woods does is ask what fear does to people. The Madman speaks eloquently of all too human monsters and what they can do to a man. Meanwhile Grandmother has suffered as well but it’s made her bitter and angry. When Red asks, “Doesn’t it seem only logical that if a person has been through all of the grief she has, they’d have nothing but compassion for anyone else who’s been through the same?” His father responds that “given enough time, fear is the great killer of the human spirit.” In her case it has taken her spirit and “has so horribly scarred it, condensing and strengthening and dishing out the same hatred that it has experienced.” But for some the opposite is true, hence the Madman. Two humans who have seen the worst of humanity. Two different reactions. And as with Elijah, where Curtis tackled slavery not through a slave but through a slave’s freeborn child, we hear about these things through kids who are “close enough to hear the echoes of the screams in [the adults’] nightmarish memories.” Certainly it rubs off onto the younger characters in different ways. In one chapter Benji wonders why the original settlers of Buxton, all ex-slaves, can’t just relax. Fear has shaped them so distinctly that he figures a town of “nervous old people” has raised him. Adversity can either build or destroy character, Curtis says. This book is the story of precisely that.
Don’t be surprised if, after finishing this book, you find yourself reaching for your copy of Elijah of Buxton so as to remember some of these characters when they were young. Reaching deep, Curtis puts soul into the pages of its companion novel. In my more dreamy-eyed moments I fantasize about Curtis continuing the stories of Buxton every 40 years until he gets to the present day. It could be his equivalent of Louise Erdrich’s Birchbark House chronicles. Imagine if we shot forward another 40 years to 1941 and encountered a grown Benji and Red with their own families and fears. I doubt Curtis is planning on going that route, but whether or not this is the end of Buxton’s tales or just the beginning, The Madman of Piney Woods will leave child readers questioning what true trauma can do to a soul, and what they would do if it happened to them. Heady stuff. Funny stuff. Smart stuff. Good stuff. Better get your hands on this stuff.
For ages 9-12.
Two boys. Two lives. It’s 1901, forty years after the events in Elijah of Buxton and Benji Alston has only one dream: To be the world’s greatest reporter. He even gets an apprenticeship on a real paper, though he finds there’s more to writing stories than he initially thought. Meanwhile Alvin Stockard, nicknamed Red, is determined to be a scientist. That is, when he’s not dodging the blows of his bitter Irish granny, Mother O’Toole. When the two boys meet they have a lot in common, in spite of the fact that Benji’s black and Red’s Irish. They've also had separate encounters with the legendary Madman of Piney Woods. Is the man an ex-slave or a convict or part lion? The truth is more complicated than that, and when the Madman is in trouble these two boys come to his aid and learn what it truly means to face fear.
Let’s be plainspoken about what this book really is. Curtis has mastered the art of the Tom Sawyerish novel. Sometimes it feels like books containing mischievous boys have fallen out of favor. Thank goodness for Christopher Paul Curtis then. What we have here is a good old-fashioned 1901 buddy comedy. Two boys getting into and out of scrapes. Wreaking havoc. Revenging themselves on their enemies / siblings (or at least Benji does). It’s downright Mark Twainish (if that’s a term). Much of the charm comes from the fact that Curtis knows from funny. Benji’s a wry-hearted bigheaded, egotistical, lovable imp. He can be canny and completely wrong-headed within the space of just a few sentences. Red, in contrast, is book smart with a more regulation-sized ego but as gullible as they come. Put Red and Benji together and it’s little wonder they're friends. They compliment one another’s faults. With Elijah of Buxton I felt no need to know more about Elijah and Cooter’s adventures. With Madman I wouldn’t mind following Benji and Red's exploits for a little bit longer.
One of the characteristics of Curtis’s writing that sets him apart from the historical fiction pack is his humor. Making the past funny is a trick. Pranks help. An egotistical character getting their comeuppance helps too. In fact, at one point Curtis perfectly defines the miracle of funny writing. Benji is pondering words and wordplay and the magic of certain letter combinations. Says he, “How is it possible that one person can use only words to make another person laugh?” How indeed. The remarkable thing isn’t that Curtis is funny, though. Rather, it’s the fact that he knows how to balance tone so well. The book will garner honest belly laughs on one page, then manage to wrench real emotion out of you the next. The best funny authors are adept at this switch. The worst leave you feeling queasy. And Curtis never, not ever, gives a reader a queasy feeling.
Normally I have a problem with books where characters act out-of-step with the times without any outside influence. For example, I once read a Civil War middle grade novel that shall remain nameless where a girl, without anyone in her life offering her any guidance, independently came up with the idea that “corsets restrict the mind”. Ugh. Anachronisms make me itch. With that in mind, I watched Red very carefully in this book. Here you have a boy effectively raised by a racist grandmother who is almost wholly without so much as a racist thought in his little ginger noggin. How do we account for this? Thankfully, Red’s father gives us an “out”, as it were. A good man who struggles with the amount of influence his mother-in-law may or may not have over her redheaded grandchild, Mr. Stockard is the just force in his son’s life that guides his good nature.
The preferred writing style of Christopher Paul Curtis that can be found in most of his novels is also found here. It initially appears deceptively simple. There will be a series of seemingly unrelated stories with familiar characters. Little interstitial moments will resonate with larger themes, but the book won't feel like it’s going anywhere. Then, in the third act, BLAMMO! Curtis will hit you with everything he’s got. Murder, desperation, the works. He’s done it so often you can set your watch by it, but it still works, man. Now to be fair, when Curtis wrote Elijah of Buxton he sort of peaked. It’s hard to compete with the desperation that filled Elijah’s encounter with an enslaved family near the end. In Madman Curtis doesn’t even attempt to top it. In fact, he comes to his book’s climax from another angle entirely. There is some desperation (and not a little blood) but even so this is a more thoughtful third act. If Elijah asked the reader to feel, Madman asks the reader to think. Nothing wrong with that. It just doesn’t sock you in the gut quite as hard.
For me, it all comes down to the quotable sentences. And fortunately, in this book the writing is just chock full of wonderful lines. Things like, “An object in motion tends to stay in motion, and the same can be said of many an argument.” Or later, when talking about Red's nickname, “It would be hard for even as good a debater as Spencer or the Holmely boy to disprove that a cardinal and a beet hadn’t been married and given birth to this boy. Then baptized him in a tub of red ink.” And I may have to conjure up this line in terms of discipline and kids: “You can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink, but you can sure make him stand there looking at the water for a long time.” Finally, on funerals: “Maybe it’s just me, but I always found it a little hard to celebrate when one of the folks in the room is dead.”
He also creates little moments that stay with you. Kissing a reflection only to have your lips stick to it. A girl’s teeth so rotted that her father has to turn his head when she kisses him to avoid the stench (kisses are treacherous things in Curtis novels). In this book I’ll probably long remember the boy who purposefully gets into fights to give himself a reason for the injuries wrought by his drunken father. And there’s even a moment near the end when the Madman’s identity is clarified that is a great example of Curtis playing with his audience. Before he gives anything away he makes it clear that the Madman could be one of two beloved characters from Elijah of Buxton. It’s agony waiting for him to clarify who exactly is who.
Character is king in the world of Mr. Curtis. A writer who manages to construct fully three-dimensional people out of mere words is one to watch. In this book, Curtis has the difficult task of making complete and whole a character through the eyes of two different-year-old boys. And when you consider that they’re working from the starting point of thinking that the guy’s insane, it’s going to be a tough slog to convince the reader otherwise. That said, once you get into the head of the “Madman” you get a profound sense not of his insanity but of his gentleness. His very existence reminded me of similar loners in literature like Boys of Blur by N.D. Wilson or The House of Dies Drear by Virginia Hamilton, but unlike the men in those books this guy had a heart and a mind and a very distinctive past. And fears. Terrible, awful fears.
It’s that fear that gives Madman its true purpose. Red’s grandmother, Mother O’Toole, shares with the Madman a horrific past. They’re very different horrors (one based in sheer mind-blowing violence and the other in death, betrayal, and disgust) but the effects are the same. Out of these moments both people are suffering a kind of PTSD. This makes them two sides of the same coin. Equally wracked by horrible memories, they chose to handle those memories in different ways. The Madman gives up society but retains his soul. Mother O’Toole, in contrast, retains her sanity but gives up her soul. Yet by the end of the book the supposed Madman has returned to society and reconnected with his friends while the Irishwoman is last seen with her hair down (a classic madwoman trope as old as Shakespeare himself) scrubbing dishes until she bleeds to rid them of any trace of the race she hates so much. They have effectively switched places.
Much of what The Madman of Piney Woods does is ask what fear does to people. The Madman speaks eloquently of all too human monsters and what they can do to a man. Meanwhile Grandmother has suffered as well but it’s made her bitter and angry. When Red asks, “Doesn’t it seem only logical that if a person has been through all of the grief she has, they’d have nothing but compassion for anyone else who’s been through the same?” His father responds that “given enough time, fear is the great killer of the human spirit.” In her case it has taken her spirit and “has so horribly scarred it, condensing and strengthening and dishing out the same hatred that it has experienced.” But for some the opposite is true, hence the Madman. Two humans who have seen the worst of humanity. Two different reactions. And as with Elijah, where Curtis tackled slavery not through a slave but through a slave’s freeborn child, we hear about these things through kids who are “close enough to hear the echoes of the screams in [the adults’] nightmarish memories.” Certainly it rubs off onto the younger characters in different ways. In one chapter Benji wonders why the original settlers of Buxton, all ex-slaves, can’t just relax. Fear has shaped them so distinctly that he figures a town of “nervous old people” has raised him. Adversity can either build or destroy character, Curtis says. This book is the story of precisely that.
Don’t be surprised if, after finishing this book, you find yourself reaching for your copy of Elijah of Buxton so as to remember some of these characters when they were young. Reaching deep, Curtis puts soul into the pages of its companion novel. In my more dreamy-eyed moments I fantasize about Curtis continuing the stories of Buxton every 40 years until he gets to the present day. It could be his equivalent of Louise Erdrich’s Birchbark House chronicles. Imagine if we shot forward another 40 years to 1941 and encountered a grown Benji and Red with their own families and fears. I doubt Curtis is planning on going that route, but whether or not this is the end of Buxton’s tales or just the beginning, The Madman of Piney Woods will leave child readers questioning what true trauma can do to a soul, and what they would do if it happened to them. Heady stuff. Funny stuff. Smart stuff. Good stuff. Better get your hands on this stuff.
For ages 9-12.
December 17, 2014
It's 1901 and two 13 year old boys, Benji Alston, an African Canadian living in Buxton, an area settled by former slaves, and Alvin "Red" Stockard, a red-headed Irish Canadian living in nearby Chatham, an area populated by Irish immigrants, are destined to meet…eventually. Their lives are separated by the woods that fascinates them, even as they hear separate stories about the legendary mysterious "creature" who lives there. To Benji, he is called The Madman of Piney Woods, to Red, he's the South Woods Lion Man.
Each boy tells his story in alternating chapters. Benji lives with his family that includes younger twins Patience and Timothy called Stubby, who are gifted at working in wood and apprenticing as carpenters. Benji has set his sights on becoming a newspaper reporter so all his adventures end with a newspaper headline. Benji also knows the woods better than anyone he knows, feels them talking to him and is very proprietary towards them.
Red is a lover of factual information and wants to be a scientist. He lives with his widower father, a judge, and his Grandmother O'Toole, a paranoid mean-spirited somewhat physically abusive racist woman who seems to hate him. These things and her habit of sneaking up on Red and hitting him with her cane causes him want her to be put into an asylum, but his father refuses. Now, Red will be happy to just survive living with her.
At some point, both boys have an encounter with the madman of Piney Woods, and both are surprised to discover the monster of their imaginations is, in fact, a kind, quiet, rational man, who has chosen to live in the woods for his own reasons, which are revealed as the story unfolds. Both when Benji and Red finally meet, the madman becomes a point of connection and friendship and catalyst for adventure. And he has a lot to teach them.
Both boys have been pretty content living in the present. But when the madman causes the past to come up and wash over them, they begin to realize how connected to their pasts and to their sorrows they actually are. For Benji, that past is slavery, the Underground Railroad, the American Civil War and the treatment of black Union soldiers; for Red, it's the Irish potato famine and watching helplessly as family began to die, later, it was the coffin ships in the St. Lawrence River where Grandmother O'Toole was forced to remain until a typhus epidemic ended, waiting and watching as more family dies.
I've always known that Christopher Paul Curtis can really write a moving, spellbinding story and The Madman of Piney Woods is no exception, although when I first started reading it, I had some doubts. But it didn't take long to get totally hooked into these two boys and their stories and as they do, they will make you laugh, cry and break your heart. Their stories can be violent in spots, but none of it is gratuitous. And reading their stories in alternating chapters sounds like it may be confusing, but it really isn't.
At the heart of the story is a mystery that Benji and Red work together to solve. The mystery is one of those things that to go into any detail would reveal too much of what should be allowed to unfold as you read, so just suffice it say, it takes a while to get there, so enjoy the read knowing you will find out what the mystery is eventually.
Technically, this is a sequel to Elijah of Buxton, even though it is 40 years later. But it is also a stand alone novel, and anything you needed to know from the first book is included in this one. And no doubt, the themes of friendship and family with resonate with readers, I think they will also appreciate the intense relationships between the generations. Also, the theme of prejudice is also explored in some unusual ways, bearing in mind that Canada is not have the kind of intense racial conflicts that the US had in its past. But again, to say more gives too much away.
This book is recommended for (mature) readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL
This review originally appeared on Randomly Reading
Each boy tells his story in alternating chapters. Benji lives with his family that includes younger twins Patience and Timothy called Stubby, who are gifted at working in wood and apprenticing as carpenters. Benji has set his sights on becoming a newspaper reporter so all his adventures end with a newspaper headline. Benji also knows the woods better than anyone he knows, feels them talking to him and is very proprietary towards them.
Red is a lover of factual information and wants to be a scientist. He lives with his widower father, a judge, and his Grandmother O'Toole, a paranoid mean-spirited somewhat physically abusive racist woman who seems to hate him. These things and her habit of sneaking up on Red and hitting him with her cane causes him want her to be put into an asylum, but his father refuses. Now, Red will be happy to just survive living with her.
At some point, both boys have an encounter with the madman of Piney Woods, and both are surprised to discover the monster of their imaginations is, in fact, a kind, quiet, rational man, who has chosen to live in the woods for his own reasons, which are revealed as the story unfolds. Both when Benji and Red finally meet, the madman becomes a point of connection and friendship and catalyst for adventure. And he has a lot to teach them.
Both boys have been pretty content living in the present. But when the madman causes the past to come up and wash over them, they begin to realize how connected to their pasts and to their sorrows they actually are. For Benji, that past is slavery, the Underground Railroad, the American Civil War and the treatment of black Union soldiers; for Red, it's the Irish potato famine and watching helplessly as family began to die, later, it was the coffin ships in the St. Lawrence River where Grandmother O'Toole was forced to remain until a typhus epidemic ended, waiting and watching as more family dies.
I've always known that Christopher Paul Curtis can really write a moving, spellbinding story and The Madman of Piney Woods is no exception, although when I first started reading it, I had some doubts. But it didn't take long to get totally hooked into these two boys and their stories and as they do, they will make you laugh, cry and break your heart. Their stories can be violent in spots, but none of it is gratuitous. And reading their stories in alternating chapters sounds like it may be confusing, but it really isn't.
At the heart of the story is a mystery that Benji and Red work together to solve. The mystery is one of those things that to go into any detail would reveal too much of what should be allowed to unfold as you read, so just suffice it say, it takes a while to get there, so enjoy the read knowing you will find out what the mystery is eventually.
Technically, this is a sequel to Elijah of Buxton, even though it is 40 years later. But it is also a stand alone novel, and anything you needed to know from the first book is included in this one. And no doubt, the themes of friendship and family with resonate with readers, I think they will also appreciate the intense relationships between the generations. Also, the theme of prejudice is also explored in some unusual ways, bearing in mind that Canada is not have the kind of intense racial conflicts that the US had in its past. But again, to say more gives too much away.
This book is recommended for (mature) readers age 9+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL
This review originally appeared on Randomly Reading
April 20, 2015
I loved this follow up/companion novel to Elijah of Buxton set 40 years after that novel. As before, Christopher Paul Curtis has woven another lovely historical fiction story filled with the powerful themes of friendship, family, and love. Benji and Red live in different towns. One is black, the other is white. When they first meet they think their lives couldn't be more different. But both come from families with cruelty and hardship in their past. Benji's family still remember the atrocities of slavery; Red's family suffered through the Great Potato Famine in Ireland. Their shared meeting of The Madman of Piney Woods, what he teaches them and how it changes their lives is the heart and soul of this story. Truly heartwarming and thought provoking. A definite 5 stars.
January 13, 2015
Wow. Another great one to add to the Newbery 2015 contender list. Christopher Paul Curtis sits right up there with the rest of my favorite authors. He's one of the best.
November 17, 2014
This companion novel to Elijah of Buxton continues the story of the town of Buxton and the people who live there. This book, which takes place forty years after the first book, is the story of two boys, Benji and Red. Benji, who lives in Buxton, dreams of becoming a newspaper reporter. He has two pesky younger siblings who also happen to be gifted builders with wood. That doesn’t mean though that Benji doesn’t try to put them in their place when they need it. Benji also has a way with the forest, spending hours walking the trails and exploring. He is one of the first to see the Madman of Piney Woods. Red is a scientist. He’s been raised by his father and maternal grandmother, who hates anyone who isn’t Irish like she is. She is strict with Red, smacking him regularly with her cane hard enough to raise a lump. When the two boys meet, they immediately become friends even though their backgrounds are so different. But can their friendship withstand the brimming hatred of some people in their communities?
I loved Elijah of Buxton so much and I started this book rather gingerly, hoping that it would be just as special as the original. Happily, it certainly is. It has a wonderful feeling to it, a rich storytelling that hearkens back to Mark Twain and other classic boyhood friendship books. Curtis makes sure that we know how different these two boys are: one with a large family, the other small, different races, different points of view. Yet it feels so right when the two boys are immediate friends, readers will have known all along that they suit one another.
Curtis explores deep themes in this novel, offering relief in the form of the exploits of the two boys as they figure out ways to mess with their siblings and escape domineering grandmothers. There are scenes that are laugh-out-loud funny. Other scenes though are gut-wrenching and powerful. They explore themes like the damage done to the psyche during wars, racism, ambition, responsibility and family ties. It is a testament to the writing of Curtis that both the humor and the drama come together into an exquisite mix of laughter and tears.
A great novel worthy of following the award-winning original, this book will be met with cheers by teachers and young readers alike. Appropriate for ages 9-12.
I loved Elijah of Buxton so much and I started this book rather gingerly, hoping that it would be just as special as the original. Happily, it certainly is. It has a wonderful feeling to it, a rich storytelling that hearkens back to Mark Twain and other classic boyhood friendship books. Curtis makes sure that we know how different these two boys are: one with a large family, the other small, different races, different points of view. Yet it feels so right when the two boys are immediate friends, readers will have known all along that they suit one another.
Curtis explores deep themes in this novel, offering relief in the form of the exploits of the two boys as they figure out ways to mess with their siblings and escape domineering grandmothers. There are scenes that are laugh-out-loud funny. Other scenes though are gut-wrenching and powerful. They explore themes like the damage done to the psyche during wars, racism, ambition, responsibility and family ties. It is a testament to the writing of Curtis that both the humor and the drama come together into an exquisite mix of laughter and tears.
A great novel worthy of following the award-winning original, this book will be met with cheers by teachers and young readers alike. Appropriate for ages 9-12.
April 12, 2017
The year is 1901, and an unlikely friendship between two boys is about to blossom. Red lives in Chatham, Ontario with his judge father and Irish grandmother. Benji lives in nearby Buxton, an Ontario town founded by escaped slaves from the southern United States, with his parents and two insufferable younger siblings. Red wants to be a scientist, and Benji hopes to be either a newspaper reporter or a hermit. Both boys have heard the story of the old escaped slave who lives wild in the piney woods near their two hometowns. Red knows him as the South Woods Lion Man, and Benji knows him as the Madman of Piney Woods. But the real identity of this mysterious person will soon be revealed, and both boys will discover that his story, and his fate, will affect them both forever.
I read this book without having read the book it is companion to: Elijah of Buxton. And although The Madman of Piney Woods does drop you pretty quickly into the story (at first I was a little confused how old the characters were, for example), I do think it stood up nicely on its own. I didn't know the back story of some of the older characters, but I believe Red and Benji would be new to the reader even if the first book had been read. Anyway, this book both sucked me in and made me think. It also made me cry HARD during one later scene. And I know this will sound weird and nerdy, but it was the first book that has made me want to have to write a paper about it, the way I used to in school. I marveled at the intersections of people who were oppressed in different ways and how hardship affects different people differently. This is definitely not a book for young people that shies away from the harsh realities of life, and I like that it gives its young readers credit for being able to handle it. In a way it also made me think of a modern Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn tale.
I would recommend this book to 5th graders and up, especially anyone who likes historical fiction and deep, rich stories to sink one's teeth into. I think it might not be a book with wide appeal for young readers, but for the right reader it could be very powerful. Besides older classics like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and Madman's companion novel Elijah of Buxton, readalikes might include Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool or even The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly.
I read this book without having read the book it is companion to: Elijah of Buxton. And although The Madman of Piney Woods does drop you pretty quickly into the story (at first I was a little confused how old the characters were, for example), I do think it stood up nicely on its own. I didn't know the back story of some of the older characters, but I believe Red and Benji would be new to the reader even if the first book had been read. Anyway, this book both sucked me in and made me think. It also made me cry HARD during one later scene. And I know this will sound weird and nerdy, but it was the first book that has made me want to have to write a paper about it, the way I used to in school. I marveled at the intersections of people who were oppressed in different ways and how hardship affects different people differently. This is definitely not a book for young people that shies away from the harsh realities of life, and I like that it gives its young readers credit for being able to handle it. In a way it also made me think of a modern Tom Sawyer/Huck Finn tale.
I would recommend this book to 5th graders and up, especially anyone who likes historical fiction and deep, rich stories to sink one's teeth into. I think it might not be a book with wide appeal for young readers, but for the right reader it could be very powerful. Besides older classics like The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain and Madman's companion novel Elijah of Buxton, readalikes might include Navigating Early by Clare Vanderpool or even The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly.
July 28, 2015
Historical fiction set in what is now Ontario, Canada, in 1901. Companion to Elijah of Buxton, Newberry Honor book, 2008, set 40 years later. Boys and girls, especially those who are interested in history and those who want to understand what makes different people behave as they do. For others, they'll like the adventure. Middle school because of complex themes and messages.
Benji and Red are unlikely friends, 13 year old boys who live in different towns, have different aspirations and different temperaments, and are of different races. All that aside, they find they have a lot in common when they meet and embark on a harrowing rescue of the Madman of Piney Woods.
Lots of mystery in this story. Who is the Madman? Is he a freed slave? A monster who might be part lion? Someone many people have known and loved? All of those? And is he really mad, completely insane?
There is a lot of meat in this book, a lot to observe and contemplate and ponder. What are we to think of a boy who provokes a fight in order to hide the injuries he sustained when his drunken father beat him? Can we see how a white boy who is partially raised by his embittered and racist Irish grandmother may have much to share with a black boy whose ancestors were raised in slavery? And how does the racist Irish grandmother’s terrible experiences in her childhood compare with the terrible reality of slavery and of the American Civil War? Why does one person turn out hateful and vicious while another retreats inside himself to become an embodiment of gentleness and thoughtfulness?
The book starts out a bit slowly while each character is developed but then seems to gallop to the end, all the while giving us a lot to think about.
I'm giving this 4 stars because 4 1/2 aren't available.
Benji and Red are unlikely friends, 13 year old boys who live in different towns, have different aspirations and different temperaments, and are of different races. All that aside, they find they have a lot in common when they meet and embark on a harrowing rescue of the Madman of Piney Woods.
Lots of mystery in this story. Who is the Madman? Is he a freed slave? A monster who might be part lion? Someone many people have known and loved? All of those? And is he really mad, completely insane?
There is a lot of meat in this book, a lot to observe and contemplate and ponder. What are we to think of a boy who provokes a fight in order to hide the injuries he sustained when his drunken father beat him? Can we see how a white boy who is partially raised by his embittered and racist Irish grandmother may have much to share with a black boy whose ancestors were raised in slavery? And how does the racist Irish grandmother’s terrible experiences in her childhood compare with the terrible reality of slavery and of the American Civil War? Why does one person turn out hateful and vicious while another retreats inside himself to become an embodiment of gentleness and thoughtfulness?
The book starts out a bit slowly while each character is developed but then seems to gallop to the end, all the while giving us a lot to think about.
I'm giving this 4 stars because 4 1/2 aren't available.
January 23, 2015
This is a companion to Elijah of Buxton, which I haven't read. I think this book holds its own--Elijah is a minor character in this one. I'm interested now to go back and read his story, though.
This is a historical-adventure story with an interesting setting--a black community (and an Irish community) in Canada in 1901. It's a good lens for looking at slavery and the Civil War from a relatively close distance, and Curtis does it well, in an age-appropriate way. It's also rare for kids lit to touch on the shitty treatment Irish immigrants got and how that contributed to racism in its own way.
I liked the friendship between Red and Benji, and the gradual reveal of the "Madman" was great. (I wonder how differently that would read if I had read Elijah of Buxton? Not sure.)
Anyway, I'd definitely recommend this to middle-grade readers who are interested in historical fiction, but also ones who are interested in science or journalism. (Red and Benji are very interested in science and journalism, respectively.)
This is a historical-adventure story with an interesting setting--a black community (and an Irish community) in Canada in 1901. It's a good lens for looking at slavery and the Civil War from a relatively close distance, and Curtis does it well, in an age-appropriate way. It's also rare for kids lit to touch on the shitty treatment Irish immigrants got and how that contributed to racism in its own way.
I liked the friendship between Red and Benji, and the gradual reveal of the "Madman" was great. (I wonder how differently that would read if I had read Elijah of Buxton? Not sure.)
Anyway, I'd definitely recommend this to middle-grade readers who are interested in historical fiction, but also ones who are interested in science or journalism. (Red and Benji are very interested in science and journalism, respectively.)
April 9, 2018
"Red" and Benji, of Chatham and Buxton (Ontario, Canada), circa 1901, narrate alternate chapters of this engaging novel. Their tales converge in the Piney Woods that divide their communities in a way that leads both boys to understand how history's evils affect people and their behaviors.
Their lessons are taught with the tools of extended family, circumstance, siblings (and lack thereof), and personal inclinations.
The delicate build up of these stories would be ruined if I went too far in describing the action. What I WILL say without spoiling anything is that characters, personal and world histories, and locations are crafted in such a way that the reader is THERE, breathless and/or teary-eyed.
This book is a companion (sequel of sorts) to the author's "Elijah of Buxton" It is billed as YA, but this mature adult found it completely engrossing.
Their lessons are taught with the tools of extended family, circumstance, siblings (and lack thereof), and personal inclinations.
The delicate build up of these stories would be ruined if I went too far in describing the action. What I WILL say without spoiling anything is that characters, personal and world histories, and locations are crafted in such a way that the reader is THERE, breathless and/or teary-eyed.
This book is a companion (sequel of sorts) to the author's "Elijah of Buxton" It is billed as YA, but this mature adult found it completely engrossing.
December 27, 2014
Christopher Paul Curtis is the best--and this is one of his best. This story about Black Canadian and Irish American families is set In Ontario about 40 years after Curtis' Elijah of Buxton. Benji and Red are the boys; Grandmother O'Toole and the Madman of Piney Woods (echoes of Hamilton's Dies Drear) are the elders who have experienced severe prejudice. The book is about friendship and unresolved hatred--served up with Curtis' trademark canniness, laugh out loud humor, boys' sense of adventure, and near-mythological ability to describe the indescribable. Highly recommended!
January 2, 2015
This book was another outstanding story told by one of my favorite authors, Christopher Paul Curtis! I love that he chose to not have a sequel for Elijah of Buxton but to have a book that took place 40 years after the colony for freed slaves was established. To see Elijah as an older man, now the mayor of Buxton. In this novel, Cotter is back and a new generation of freed people have lives and adventures that make the story all the more exhilarating! If you like books by Curtis, you will absolutely love this novel!
April 4, 2015
This book was amazing!!!!!
I loved when Red says that Grandmother O Toole is like a fox. I also liked when Benji and Spencer turned the tree house upside down. I loved when Benji gets a writer job.
I loved when Red says that Grandmother O Toole is like a fox. I also liked when Benji and Spencer turned the tree house upside down. I loved when Benji gets a writer job.
Want to read
March 24, 2017The lives of two young boys from different backgrounds and different towns become intertwined in this historical fiction novel set in Canada. Benji is African American and he loves the woods...they are like a second home to him. Red is a red-haired Irish Canadian with a wise and gentle father and a mean, abusive grandmother. A deep friendship develops between these two boys. Readers learn a bit about the horror that many Irish immigrants endured when they immigrated to Canada, see a village that had been established by freed slaves 40 years prior (the same village featured in Elijah of Buxton) and see that we all have more in common than we have differences.
This book contained some gems of wisdom...
"If you want to know a person's true character take note of the adjectives they use to describe other people."
There was discussion on how suffering could either cause you to be more compassionate and concerned for others or lead you to become bitter, shriveled and angry.
I liked the discussion between Benji and the owner of the newspaper about the power of spoken words versus the power of the written word.
This book contained some gems of wisdom...
"If you want to know a person's true character take note of the adjectives they use to describe other people."
There was discussion on how suffering could either cause you to be more compassionate and concerned for others or lead you to become bitter, shriveled and angry.
I liked the discussion between Benji and the owner of the newspaper about the power of spoken words versus the power of the written word.
May 22, 2019
4.5 Incredibly powerful.
A little slow at first, but so worth the read.
This book is pretty deceptive -I thought it was a Middle-Grade (North American) mystery about a creepy forest man, and instead I found this to be about race, ptsd, fear, human monsters, and human relationships. And stories (written and spoken).
I didn't love Benji's character in the beginning (I found him to be a little too precocious and annoying), which is maybe why I found this to be slow (in the beginning), but he grows so much as a character throughout the book, and helps Red to grow so much too.
Other reviewers have done it better, so I won't rehash the whole book here, but I do have to say that the The Madman of Piney Woods raises such interesting questions about hate, fear, and monsters (re: The Lion Man & Grandma O'Toole).
This is a book for all ages!
A little slow at first, but so worth the read.
This book is pretty deceptive -I thought it was a Middle-Grade (North American) mystery about a creepy forest man, and instead I found this to be about race, ptsd, fear, human monsters, and human relationships. And stories (written and spoken).
I didn't love Benji's character in the beginning (I found him to be a little too precocious and annoying), which is maybe why I found this to be slow (in the beginning), but he grows so much as a character throughout the book, and helps Red to grow so much too.
Other reviewers have done it better, so I won't rehash the whole book here, but I do have to say that the The Madman of Piney Woods raises such interesting questions about hate, fear, and monsters (re: The Lion Man & Grandma O'Toole).
This is a book for all ages!
June 5, 2017
I had a hard time getting into this book. Perhaps it was because I started with the audio book. The very first words I heard were "The American Civil War, 1901." I rewound that thing three times to be sure I heard it right. It didn't make any sense to me. Then there were so many boys' characters in the first two chapters. I was trying to sort them all out and I didn't even realize one chapter was from Benji's point of view and the next from Red's and the two didn't know each other. I was glad I had the paper copy so I could go back and figure out what was going on. Once the story got going, I did appreciate the two different narrators in the audio book.
But I think the story was slow-going anyway. It took a while to get to the Madman. The book ended up being good and thought-provoking, but I didn't care for the pace.
But I think the story was slow-going anyway. It took a while to get to the Madman. The book ended up being good and thought-provoking, but I didn't care for the pace.
December 15, 2019
I am a HUGE fan of Christopher Paul Curtis, and what he has done in this book is absolutely terrific. “The Madman of Piney Woods” takes place 40 years after the events in “Elijah of Buxton” (another one of Curtis's star works) and is narrated by Benji, a black boy, and Red, a ginger-haired kid of Irish ancestry, in alternating chapters. These kids from very different backgrounds meet and bond and solve a mystery together in the Piney Woods, delivering a solid sense of what life was like in small Canadian towns in 1901. This children's book packs a suspenseful touch and is fun for anyone to read.
July 21, 2017
I laughed. I cried. Worth the time to gain the wisdom embedded throughout this book. 😇
January 5, 2020
audio book
February 10, 2021
This was such an amazing book, 10/10 would recommend!
April 2, 2023
4.5/5 stars. Review coming soon.
May 26, 2017
Great characters in this one. I wasn't sure what a "companion" piece to Elijah of Buxton meant - it takes place in the same place many years after that book with mainly new characters. CPC is still one of my favorite children's authors.
February 12, 2021
Another winner by Christopher Paul Curtis. Loved it! Made me cry.
July 27, 2015
Categories/Genres: Middle Historical Fiction
Estimate of Age Level of Interest: Grades 5-8
Estimate of Reading Level: 5.4, Lexile 870
Brief Description:
Benji and Red live across the border from each other, one in a black community and one in an Irish immigrant community. Both boys have goals—the first to be a journalist, and the second to be a scientist, and both are intrigued by the Madman/Lion Man of Piney Woods. In the exciting conclusion, they come to know each other and the madman in unexpected ways.
Two Characteristics of This Genre and How They Appear in the Book: 1) Characterization. Christopher Paul Curtis has a way of getting inside the skin of his characters so that we understand their behaviors and motivations. Red’s friend Curly is a particularly sympathetic character who has a violent, alcoholic father. We see the evil he experiences, and we see the mixed up way it plays out in his life. Benji and Red leap off the pages as well, and we root for them in their friendships, their families, and their success in the debate competition. 2) The setting is accurately portrayed. Readers experience the Michigan/Canadian border at the turn of the last century—everything from the trains, to the newspapers, to the narrow attitudes of different groups. The reader gets up close to the aftermath of the Civil War, ended just thirty-five years before. (Just as the Vietnam War has been over for 43 years, but its affects are still very real today.)
How the Book Serves its Intended Audience: This is an exciting mystery and coming of age tale for boys. The characters face many challenges, but with the help of their parents, mentors and each other, they learn many life lessons, including what it takes to be a good writer and the meaning of friendship. Their final lessons are delivered by the Madman himself as he teaches them about living and dying. Titlewave suggested Grades 3-6, but to me some of the content is much more appropriate for older students.
Awards: Dorothy Canfield Fisher Collection, 2015-16, Booklist, Horn Book, Kirkus, VOYA starred reviews.
Links to Published Reviews from Professional Sources:
“Although occasionally somber and heartbreaking, there is great humor, hope, and adventure from Benji and Red. The conclusion may be less powerful if readers are not familiar with Elijah, but it is stunning nonetheless.” School Library Journal, August 1, 2014.
“Woven throughout this profoundly moving yet also at times very funny novel are themes of family, friendship, community, compassion, and the power of words.” Horn Book Spring 2015.
“Though sometimes overly discursive, the novel is otherwise a delight, featuring the author’s obvious love for his characters, his skillful use of sentiment, and his often hyperbolic humor—Benji’s laboring to reconstruct his younger siblings’ tree house upside down (you have to be there) is priceless. It is, in short, quintessential Curtis, sure to please his legions of fans and to cultivate new ones.” Booklist, July 2014
Estimate of Age Level of Interest: Grades 5-8
Estimate of Reading Level: 5.4, Lexile 870
Brief Description:
Benji and Red live across the border from each other, one in a black community and one in an Irish immigrant community. Both boys have goals—the first to be a journalist, and the second to be a scientist, and both are intrigued by the Madman/Lion Man of Piney Woods. In the exciting conclusion, they come to know each other and the madman in unexpected ways.
Two Characteristics of This Genre and How They Appear in the Book: 1) Characterization. Christopher Paul Curtis has a way of getting inside the skin of his characters so that we understand their behaviors and motivations. Red’s friend Curly is a particularly sympathetic character who has a violent, alcoholic father. We see the evil he experiences, and we see the mixed up way it plays out in his life. Benji and Red leap off the pages as well, and we root for them in their friendships, their families, and their success in the debate competition. 2) The setting is accurately portrayed. Readers experience the Michigan/Canadian border at the turn of the last century—everything from the trains, to the newspapers, to the narrow attitudes of different groups. The reader gets up close to the aftermath of the Civil War, ended just thirty-five years before. (Just as the Vietnam War has been over for 43 years, but its affects are still very real today.)
How the Book Serves its Intended Audience: This is an exciting mystery and coming of age tale for boys. The characters face many challenges, but with the help of their parents, mentors and each other, they learn many life lessons, including what it takes to be a good writer and the meaning of friendship. Their final lessons are delivered by the Madman himself as he teaches them about living and dying. Titlewave suggested Grades 3-6, but to me some of the content is much more appropriate for older students.
Awards: Dorothy Canfield Fisher Collection, 2015-16, Booklist, Horn Book, Kirkus, VOYA starred reviews.
Links to Published Reviews from Professional Sources:
“Although occasionally somber and heartbreaking, there is great humor, hope, and adventure from Benji and Red. The conclusion may be less powerful if readers are not familiar with Elijah, but it is stunning nonetheless.” School Library Journal, August 1, 2014.
“Woven throughout this profoundly moving yet also at times very funny novel are themes of family, friendship, community, compassion, and the power of words.” Horn Book Spring 2015.
“Though sometimes overly discursive, the novel is otherwise a delight, featuring the author’s obvious love for his characters, his skillful use of sentiment, and his often hyperbolic humor—Benji’s laboring to reconstruct his younger siblings’ tree house upside down (you have to be there) is priceless. It is, in short, quintessential Curtis, sure to please his legions of fans and to cultivate new ones.” Booklist, July 2014
January 19, 2015
It's 40 years after the Civil War, but its effects can still be felt in the small Canadian towns of Buxton and Chatham. In Buxton, 13 year old African-Canadian Benji dreams of being a famous newspaperman, but alongside that is his love of the woods--and his hatred of his two younger, much more talented twin siblings. In Chatham, red-headed Red lives with his judge father and his Irish grandmother, who is a terror of a woman who seems furious at the world and at Red, and always tries to hit him with her cane (and succeeds). Both boys have heard the legends of the Madman of Piney Woods, but never expect to encounter him--and to find that he's both more and less than they thought he would be. When they find out that he's in real trouble, what will they do?
There was much about this book that I loved. The world-building is thoughtful and detailed as well as well-researched, and the characters are realistic and full of flaws. Benji is actually a jerk through a lot of the book, and sometimes hard to sympathize with. His progress towards becoming a competent writer is funny and believable, though--I've seen writing like that at my school! I also love his connection with the woods, and hope he keeps it as he grows up. Although his relationship with his siblings was painful to read about, it was also sadly believable. Red is a kinder boy, passionate about science, though he has to work to try to understand his terrible grandmother and try not to let her hatred poison him.
Much of this book is about the long shadow thrown by tragic events like the Civil War and the Irish Potato Famine, as well as the tragedy of the Irish arriving in Canada at the time of a typhus outbreak. While I think it delivers that message well--you don't see a lot of kids' books trying to help kids cope with such complex feelings--I do feel the book was unevenly structured. For the first third, it's basically just an episodic story about the two boys, alternating chapters. The Madman doesn't come in until later. It sort of felt as if the book were frontloaded, where the thread of the Madman should have worked through the whole book and been more of a focus early on. Since he's the title character, and all. But overall, a thoughtful read.
There was much about this book that I loved. The world-building is thoughtful and detailed as well as well-researched, and the characters are realistic and full of flaws. Benji is actually a jerk through a lot of the book, and sometimes hard to sympathize with. His progress towards becoming a competent writer is funny and believable, though--I've seen writing like that at my school! I also love his connection with the woods, and hope he keeps it as he grows up. Although his relationship with his siblings was painful to read about, it was also sadly believable. Red is a kinder boy, passionate about science, though he has to work to try to understand his terrible grandmother and try not to let her hatred poison him.
Much of this book is about the long shadow thrown by tragic events like the Civil War and the Irish Potato Famine, as well as the tragedy of the Irish arriving in Canada at the time of a typhus outbreak. While I think it delivers that message well--you don't see a lot of kids' books trying to help kids cope with such complex feelings--I do feel the book was unevenly structured. For the first third, it's basically just an episodic story about the two boys, alternating chapters. The Madman doesn't come in until later. It sort of felt as if the book were frontloaded, where the thread of the Madman should have worked through the whole book and been more of a focus early on. Since he's the title character, and all. But overall, a thoughtful read.
October 30, 2015
The Madman of Piney Woods by Christopher Paul Curtis delivers a powerful companion to his novel Elijah Of Buxton in a tale full of intrigue and adventure for two boys. Benji and Red couldn't be more different. They aren't friends, live in diferent towns, are different races, and have different aspirations, family sizes, and temperaments. But their fates are entwined. A chance meeting leads the boys to discover that they have more in common than meets the eye. Both have encountered a strange presence in the forest, watching them and tracking them. Could the Madman of Piney Woods be real?
Curtis returns to the vibrant world he brought to life in Elijah of Buxton, a setting he continues to make very real. His characters come alive and show personal growth with one obvious exception. Curtis captures well the concerns of his young characters. Curtis creates real, laugh out loud humor yet also elicits gut wrenching, powerful reader emotions of fear, disgust, sadness and desperation with his rich storytelling. Curtis choses to make readers observe, think and ponder the issues he introduces, including how people react to horrible events. There are themes of fear, hatred, war, sanity, racism, family, famine, soul, epidemics, domestic violence & friendship. Madman has a slow start but a compelling, fast finish.
This is highly recommended for school and public library collections. 4.5 stars. For ages 10 & up, historical fiction, fear, racism, famine, epidemics, war, domestic violence, sibling rivalry, immigrants, inhumanity, science, journalism, multicultural and fans of Christopher Paul Curtis.
Curtis returns to the vibrant world he brought to life in Elijah of Buxton, a setting he continues to make very real. His characters come alive and show personal growth with one obvious exception. Curtis captures well the concerns of his young characters. Curtis creates real, laugh out loud humor yet also elicits gut wrenching, powerful reader emotions of fear, disgust, sadness and desperation with his rich storytelling. Curtis choses to make readers observe, think and ponder the issues he introduces, including how people react to horrible events. There are themes of fear, hatred, war, sanity, racism, family, famine, soul, epidemics, domestic violence & friendship. Madman has a slow start but a compelling, fast finish.
This is highly recommended for school and public library collections. 4.5 stars. For ages 10 & up, historical fiction, fear, racism, famine, epidemics, war, domestic violence, sibling rivalry, immigrants, inhumanity, science, journalism, multicultural and fans of Christopher Paul Curtis.
December 26, 2014
Gifted storyteller Christopher Paul Curtis returns to Buxton, the small town at the heart of his earlier and much loved Elijah of Buxton for this powerful tale of love, loss, unexpected friendships, and bravery. Set in 1901, the novel alternates between the points of view of two boys, Benji Alston, whose goal in life is to become a reporter, and Alvin (Red) Stockard whose heart's ambition is to become a scientist. Both boys have their own set of friends and parental challenges. In Benji's case, his parents have high expectations for him while Red must deal with his maternal grandmother and her anger. As is often the case for youngsters, tales have been spun about a strange creature known as the Lion Man or the Madman of Piney Woods who supposedly haunts the woods where the boys like to play. Readers' hearts will break when the identity of this sad individual is revealed and applaud the courageousness of both boys who acted bravely just when it was needed. As he always does in his books, the author provides just the right blending of humor, adventure, and compassion within this sprawling tale. Even the secondary characters are interesting because of the secrets in their own lives; for instance, one boy relishes fighting with his peers so that he can hide the bruises he bears from his own father's physical punishment, and Red's Grandmother O'Toole has seen more than her share of deprivation, death, and hardship, leaving her embittered and unable to forgive. Readers who finished this book's predecessor may want to reread that one before diving into his one so they will refresh their memories about some of the characters, events, and places, but even without that review, this book with its African-Canadian and Irish narrator will hook readers.
December 9, 2014
Originally posted here at In the Senter of it All
This is a beautiful story that does deal with the issue of race post civil war, but it does not dominate the story. It is only part of the story.
Genre: Historical
AR level: 5.7
Grade appropriate: 5th and up
RATING BREAKDOWN:
Overall: 4/5-- Fantastic and beautifully handled.
Creativity: 5/5-- What an interesting way to bring two boys together who come from different towns and different backgrounds.
Characters: 5/5-- Loved Red a lot. Benji started out quite hateful but grew throughout the story into a brave and noble person.
Engrossing: 4/5-- Historical fiction is not always the most engrossing. There will be plenty of kids who lose interest before finishing.
Writing: 4/5-- There was quite a bit of confusion at the beginning of the book when both boys’ stories were running parallel and they hadn’t met. It was hard to keep straight who was who.
Appeal to kids: 3/5-- See comments on “Engrossing.”
Appropriate length to tell the story: 4/5
CONTENT:
Language: mild-- Grandma prays for a man who wouldn’t serve her family “That the Lamb of God stirs his hoof through the roof of heaven and kicks your father square in his ass straight down to hell.”
Sexuality: none
Violence: medium- The madman gets shot by a drunken towns person and the boys find him in the woods.
Drugs/Alcohol: medium-- one of the secondary character’s father is an alcoholic and is abusive. (He also ends up shooting the madman…)
This is a beautiful story that does deal with the issue of race post civil war, but it does not dominate the story. It is only part of the story.
Genre: Historical
AR level: 5.7
Grade appropriate: 5th and up
RATING BREAKDOWN:
Overall: 4/5-- Fantastic and beautifully handled.
Creativity: 5/5-- What an interesting way to bring two boys together who come from different towns and different backgrounds.
Characters: 5/5-- Loved Red a lot. Benji started out quite hateful but grew throughout the story into a brave and noble person.
Engrossing: 4/5-- Historical fiction is not always the most engrossing. There will be plenty of kids who lose interest before finishing.
Writing: 4/5-- There was quite a bit of confusion at the beginning of the book when both boys’ stories were running parallel and they hadn’t met. It was hard to keep straight who was who.
Appeal to kids: 3/5-- See comments on “Engrossing.”
Appropriate length to tell the story: 4/5
CONTENT:
Language: mild-- Grandma prays for a man who wouldn’t serve her family “That the Lamb of God stirs his hoof through the roof of heaven and kicks your father square in his ass straight down to hell.”
Sexuality: none
Violence: medium- The madman gets shot by a drunken towns person and the boys find him in the woods.
Drugs/Alcohol: medium-- one of the secondary character’s father is an alcoholic and is abusive. (He also ends up shooting the madman…)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 14, 2015
13-year-old Benji lives in Buxton, originally a settlement of runaway slaves. He's a master prankster with a heart of gold. He desperately wants to become a newspaperman and all of his chapters end with made up headlines, usually proclaiming his greatness. On the other side of the woods is the Irish-Canadian settlement of Chatham. This is the home of Red, who is passionate about science and looks to the logical scientific method to figure out his world. In alternating chapters the two boys tell their stories that eventually converge in the woods. The woods, known by those in Buxton as the Piney Woods and as South Woods to everyone in Chatham, is said to be inhabited by a mysterious mad man. But Benji and Red are beginning to think the stories have some truth in them.
Set in 1904 in Ontario, Canada this taut, tightly woven, spellbinding historical fiction story pulls the reader in from page one. The story and text are so carefully and deliberately constructed that not one word is extraneous. The text, both dialogue and narrative, is humorous and touching in just the right amounts. The character development is strongly built as the boys finds out more about the people in their communities. This is the second book in a trilogy that started with Elijah of Buxton, however it works well as a stand alone title. (The third book is untitled and does not currently have a publication date.) In fact, the connection to the first book is not revealed until very late in the story.
Full Review at Chapter Book Explorer: http://chapterbookexplorer.blogspot.c...
Set in 1904 in Ontario, Canada this taut, tightly woven, spellbinding historical fiction story pulls the reader in from page one. The story and text are so carefully and deliberately constructed that not one word is extraneous. The text, both dialogue and narrative, is humorous and touching in just the right amounts. The character development is strongly built as the boys finds out more about the people in their communities. This is the second book in a trilogy that started with Elijah of Buxton, however it works well as a stand alone title. (The third book is untitled and does not currently have a publication date.) In fact, the connection to the first book is not revealed until very late in the story.
Full Review at Chapter Book Explorer: http://chapterbookexplorer.blogspot.c...
November 25, 2014
The Madman of Piney Woods by Christopher Paul Curtis – mature 5th grade and up – Released Sept 30th, 2014- This book is sticking with me. I loved returning to Buxton, Ontario, Canada in connection with Elijah of Buxton but was honestly drawn in by the alternating chapters from two different community’s boys and how different (and similar) their lives were to one another. I loved how one character is working hard to impress and get himself published in the local newspaper and is rejected and taught writing lessons through the editor of the paper. Really good that he isn’t just accepted on the first try of writing after hearing how good he is as a writer for years. There are many upsetting, brilliant scenes in this book and I honestly felt a little cheated by the end because I wanted more from the interactions between two characters. I think I’ll need to reread Elijah of Buxton and then The Madman of Piney Woods to fulfill those needs. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.
Favorite quotes: “Right, our memories are always in the process of falling apart; they’re constantly fading. Keep that in mind when people tell you about the past. Your friends aren’t necessarily being malicious or trying to frighten or deceive you.
“Once you commit something to print, you are, in effect, chained to it. It is always available to be looked at again and traced back to you.”
“There is a great deal more responsibility required when using the written word.”
Favorite quotes: “Right, our memories are always in the process of falling apart; they’re constantly fading. Keep that in mind when people tell you about the past. Your friends aren’t necessarily being malicious or trying to frighten or deceive you.
“Once you commit something to print, you are, in effect, chained to it. It is always available to be looked at again and traced back to you.”
“There is a great deal more responsibility required when using the written word.”
April 28, 2015
Christopher Paul Curtis is an amazing writer. He keeps giving us important, realistic historical fiction novels that are also suspenseful, funny, poignant and insightful. The Madman of Piney Woods is most definitely in this category. Set in the same Canadian town as Elijah of Buxton, Madman is the story of second generation family descended from runaway slaves. It is also the story of a family of Irish immigrants who fled persecution and starvation in Ireland and settled in a town just outside of Buxton. Madman starts out as two different stories from two different points of view. Benji a Buxton child, and Red, an Irish immigrant, are very different boys living two very different lives until their stories come together in a chance encounter that will change both boys and both families. Curtis weaves facts about the Civil War, Irish famine and prejudice seamlessly through the story without once sounding preachy. He shows characters whose racial hatred is despicable, but also shows how their dark hearts and souls were formed by horrible circumstances and/or a horrible upbringing. Most importantly, he shows how love, respect and acceptance can change a hardened heart. And he does this in a story that is fast paced, entertaining and memorable. I would love to read more of the adventures of Benji and Red.
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