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Slider's Son
Friendship.
Danger.
Murder.
Grant O'Grady wants nothing more than to be a major league baseball pitcher. He's only thirteen, but his dream seems possible . . . until Big Joe turns his life upside down.
Grant and his buddies are no strangers to risk. At the end of the Great Depression in small-town North Dakota, money is tight, so Grant and his friends swipe coal from the coal train when it stops in town to fill its boiler. It's risky to climb the train cars, but so is climbing the water tower to chuck snowballs at passing cars, and so is shooting out Christmas lights downtown.
But risk turns into very real danger every time Big Joe shows up. After an encounter with the man one winter night in 1936, Grant's life will change forever.
Danger.
Murder.
Grant O'Grady wants nothing more than to be a major league baseball pitcher. He's only thirteen, but his dream seems possible . . . until Big Joe turns his life upside down.
Grant and his buddies are no strangers to risk. At the end of the Great Depression in small-town North Dakota, money is tight, so Grant and his friends swipe coal from the coal train when it stops in town to fill its boiler. It's risky to climb the train cars, but so is climbing the water tower to chuck snowballs at passing cars, and so is shooting out Christmas lights downtown.
But risk turns into very real danger every time Big Joe shows up. After an encounter with the man one winter night in 1936, Grant's life will change forever.
337 pages, Paperback
Published September 12, 2017
About the author
Rebecca Fjelland Davis
15 books30 followersRebecca Fjelland Davis is a novelist and children's book author who lives in Minnesota. She is currently an instructor at South Central College in Mankato, where she teaches Composition, Literature and Film, and Humanities.
Becky grew up on a farm outside of Huxley, Iowa. She graduated from Waldorf College, from St. Cloud State University, and received her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Minnesota State University, Mankato.
She currently lives in the country near Mankato with her husband and Newfoundland dog Freya. Besides writing and teaching, Becky rides her bike a few thousand miles a year, has bonfires with her friends, feeds the birds, and walks Freya on the prairie and in the woods.
She also hauls students on grand adventures, to places like South Africa or art museums in Minneapolis.
Becky grew up on a farm outside of Huxley, Iowa. She graduated from Waldorf College, from St. Cloud State University, and received her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from Minnesota State University, Mankato.
She currently lives in the country near Mankato with her husband and Newfoundland dog Freya. Besides writing and teaching, Becky rides her bike a few thousand miles a year, has bonfires with her friends, feeds the birds, and walks Freya on the prairie and in the woods.
She also hauls students on grand adventures, to places like South Africa or art museums in Minneapolis.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 3, 2017
I absolutely loved this book & couldn't put it down - I want to keep reading about this family!!!!
October 23, 2022
Well-written historical fiction capturing a slice of life in a small rural town in North Dakota in the 1930s. Grant O'Grady (the title character) and his baseball-loving buddies get into more trouble than they should but still escape relatively unharmed until the town drunk, Big Joe Thornton, takes a personal dislike to Grant after Grant stands up for Big Joe's son, Little Joe.
Because nearly everyone in town hates Big Joe because of the abuse he heaps on his family and his irresponsible spending (spending most of the family's money on booze), there are no lack of suspects when he ends up dead in the basement of his house.
Davis captures a slice of life that I can identify with, being a baseball-crazed kid when I was 13. (I wanted to pitch for the Minnesota Twins. Grant's idol was Bob Feller. The difference? Grant probably had the talent to reach the major leagues. I did not. :-)
The characters are all believable and unique. The collective personalities of the core group of friends make for more or less a complete human--Grant's talent and compassion, Little Joe's loyalty, Frank's impulsiveness, Orland's artistic and intellectual side. Grant's father, Slider, is the wise compass for Grant. He's the county sheriff and also a pitcher on the townball team. A man of principle who won't let breaking the law get in the way of delivering justice because he's one of the many people who'd willingly kill Big Joe because he's such a vile antagonist.
That said, Big Joe may be a bit of a caricatured bad guy--drunk with a violent streak who is totally selfish and uncaring--but he's fleshed out enough for us to understand that he's truly ill with alcoholism and is beyond saving.
All in all, quite enjoyable and well-crafted. My one nitpick was the overuse of dialect, slang, and foreign accent exaggeration (particularly the German doctor). Took me out of the story too often.
Because nearly everyone in town hates Big Joe because of the abuse he heaps on his family and his irresponsible spending (spending most of the family's money on booze), there are no lack of suspects when he ends up dead in the basement of his house.
Davis captures a slice of life that I can identify with, being a baseball-crazed kid when I was 13. (I wanted to pitch for the Minnesota Twins. Grant's idol was Bob Feller. The difference? Grant probably had the talent to reach the major leagues. I did not. :-)
The characters are all believable and unique. The collective personalities of the core group of friends make for more or less a complete human--Grant's talent and compassion, Little Joe's loyalty, Frank's impulsiveness, Orland's artistic and intellectual side. Grant's father, Slider, is the wise compass for Grant. He's the county sheriff and also a pitcher on the townball team. A man of principle who won't let breaking the law get in the way of delivering justice because he's one of the many people who'd willingly kill Big Joe because he's such a vile antagonist.
That said, Big Joe may be a bit of a caricatured bad guy--drunk with a violent streak who is totally selfish and uncaring--but he's fleshed out enough for us to understand that he's truly ill with alcoholism and is beyond saving.
All in all, quite enjoyable and well-crafted. My one nitpick was the overuse of dialect, slang, and foreign accent exaggeration (particularly the German doctor). Took me out of the story too often.
January 17, 2019
I thought this was a good book. The only thing i didn't like was that the author said that Joe was dead right away instead of building up the tension. Other than that it was pretty good. I'm actually surprised who killed Joe. Someone i never thought would. I didn't like how they were picking on Joe because he was Indian. When i hear someone say "engine." or "they'll scalp you." I get so heated i don't care who you are. There people just like Americans.I hate people who are prejudice like my dad and uncle. But my uncle just does it to get under my skin and it works. I'm not prejudice or racist because I've had all kinds of friends like Indians,Japanese and friends from Alabama. Other than that i thought it was really good.
October 6, 2022
This historical fiction story is set in North Dakota, 1937. I enjoyed reading about the period and what people went through in small town, Midwestern United States. The murder mystery was certainly a part of the story, but there were also many other aspects of the time and place that were part of the story.
August 2, 2020
Excellent book! Loved the storyline! It’s about a group of high schools kids during the 1930’s and the adventures they experienced. I very good murder mystery! An easy read with no sex and no swearing which seems to be unusual nowadays. #slidersson
March 12, 2023
I began reading the book yesterday and finished it today. It was suspenseful and believable, and I did not know how it was going to end until I read the whole book… I enjoy historical fiction, and definitely enjoyed reading this book!!!
October 2, 2017
So far, I have been getting emails from readers who say they love this story. My favorite (and most common) response has been "I couldn't put it down!" Nothing makes me happier than hearing that!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews