Full Service

by Will Weaver

The times they are a-changin' . . .

The summer that Paul turns sixteen his mother pushes him to take a job in town instead of just working on the family farm. You need to meet the public, she says, which is saying a lot for a woman deeply committed to the tightly knit religious community to which they belong. And meet the public Paul does: He meets Kirk, the angry gas station manager; Harry, a reclusive and kindly gangster; and a family of hippies passing in a yellow peace van to San Francisco. He also meets beautiful Peggy, a high school sensation, and dark-haired Dale, her on the side boyfriend who is headed to Vietnam. All of them come to the station as well as girls on summer vacation, tanned and smelling of coconut oil, and ministers from Paula's fundamentalist church, who are worried about his soul. As the summer progresses, Paul learns the secrets of his small Minnesota town and discovers that he's ready to have a few secrets of his own.
With richly developed characters and a flair for arresting imagery, Will Weaver tells the story of the end of one boy's innocence, unfolding at a time when the country as a whole is undergoing a difficult, deeply disturbing coming-of-age.

Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Realistic Fiction, Coming Of Age, Fiction, Teen, Historical

240 pages, Hardcover

First published October 12, 2005

About the author

I grew up in the Midwest, and had no idea I'd become a writer one day. However I gradually felt a need to tell my own stories. To explain, in writing, how I saw the world.

Today I'm a full time writer with 13 novels, many short stories, and two movie adaptations. I enjoy visiting schools and libraries, and sharing what I've learned about writing.

My newest novel POWER & LIGHT (Sept 2023) is now out. The first of a two book adult saga, it follows the arc of a Norwegian emigrant family to the Midwest–their hardships and ultimate triumph.

Reviews

[Art · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always enjoy Will Weaver.
No baseball in this one.
Summers, WOW!
Reminds me of life on the farm and how it was.
My many crushes and the steady ones I had.
Much of the book is how it was when I grew up in Minnesota.

[Chloe Holten · Rating 3 out of 5]

The summer where Paul is turning sixteen, his mom pushes him to get a job, when usually
he is working on his family’s farm. This way he is able to “meet the public”. I think that is
extremely weird for her to say that considering the whole family is completely committed
to their religion and their farm. So, Paul went along with what his mother said no matter
how he felt about it. He meets some people at his new work, which is a gas station. Their
motto is “Full Service” because no matter what people want, Paul and the other workers
will do it to their best ability and more. I think the book so far is completely dull. Nothing
amusing has happened but I do think the characters are vigorous. Many different types of
people come to the station over the summer. As summer progresses, Paul learns more and
more about his confidential city and he discovers that he is ready to have more privacy.
The book has gotten fitter the more I read it, because Paul’s innocence goes farther away,
spreading a time when there is difficulties in their town.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nostalgic, contemplative look at the effects a summer job pumping gas has on a rural, conservative Christian teen. Although my background wasn't nearly as religious, I found myself relating in the way my job scooping ice cream as a teen allowed me to meet all manner of people, including ones my parents would disapprove of me meeting. Although Paul's character has truly changed for the better toward the end, I felt the narrative could have used some stronger relationships or more of an awakening for him.

[Natehuts20 · Rating 5 out of 5]

FULL SERVICE
BY Will Weaver.

Let me start by saying, ANY book that I have EVER read by Will Weaver (about 6 or 7 not including this one) has been phenomenal, and I didn’t expect much less in Full Service and Weaver did not disappoint. Like other books by Weaver, everything from the characters to the setting was absolutely awesome. However, the main character Paul has to be one of my favorite Weaver characters to date. I personally was able to connect with Paul so well despite the difference in the time the book was written and now. The funny part is that I don’t have much in common with Paul beside for, our age, that we both like girls, and we both like cars. So in actuality I think that it was the way Weaver used Paul’s parents. Even though my dad is not a preacher and we don’t run a church in our house, nor do we live on a farm, I was mentally able to connect my family with Paul’s in the sense my mom is a lot like Paul’s mom, and my dad is similar to his dad, and this made reading the book much more enjoyable and easier to connect with.

However, this is not the only thing that made Full Service one of my all-time favorites. One of the things I enjoyed about this book was that it did not start off right with a climactic moment and then calm down and end on a action packed cliffhanger. It actually starts really kind of boring. Instead Weaver builds up to reach a climax about halfway to three- fourths the way through the book, and from that point on putting the book down is nearly impossible. It is filled with intense, and some funny and entertaining moments. Something funny I noticed was despite the book being based in a completely different time in history, I found most of the characters to be very similar to how kids nowadays are. This added to the time the book was set in, and the endless details Weaver uses to describe the characters, and settings, makes for a very entertaining and fun to read book.

[Ami Abramson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great coming of age novel set in the Midwest in the 1960s. Life was simpler than but also changing both politically and socially. For a boy (young man) growing up in a religious non denominational Christian farming family working in town at a gas station was a big change. He was used to working on the farm. His mom encouraged him to work at the full service Shell Station to interact with the public over the summer. He meets lots of interesting characters that summer, has his first crush, and learns a lot about life along the way. He smokes his first cigarette, drinks his first beer and had his first kiss all while dabbling in questioning his faith, family and freedom. This book reminds us of the changing times and also of the universal pull of familiarity and family.

[Chau Nguyen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is about a 15-year-old boy named Paul who is encouraged by his mother to go to work and face society. Day by day, innocent boy Paul exposes more and more of the dark side of the world out there. He realized that almost everyone has their own secrets. Then finally little Paul had a secret of his own. I would give this book 3/5. Decent: interesting setting, a rather strange perspective for me, the author's writing style is quite good. The psychological changes of the characters are visualized quite well by the author. "Full service" is not an excellent book for me, but from a certain perspective it is worth reading. You can try reading it if you are interested in its settings.

[Mason Pustay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full service was a great book and had lots of detail. The book took place in the 50s which is in my opinion the golden age. The main character is a 15 year old who got a job filling gas. He encounters many strange sights and meets lots of new people. I wish this was still a job because I would love to sit and fill gas all day. He is also my age so some of his problems are relateable but not all due to today's advancement in tech. Overall a solid book, real torqued.

[Marilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Paul, a high school sophomore, lives on a farm with his family. His mother challenges him to leave the farm and get a summer job at the full service gas station. She hires an prison convict to work on the farm to replace Paul. Paul learns about people and life that summer working at the gas station. He learns to appreciate what he has once summer comes to an end. Weaver is a good writer. I enjoyed reading the story because of his story telling.

[Blossom · Rating 3 out of 5]

A coming of age story from a Male perspective. It was ok. I enjoyed it more then I expected too so that's something I guess.

[Grant Thomas]

A young lad who has lived on a farm for his entire life gets a job in town. Taking place in the the 60s, this book is decorated with the culture of the time.

[Pfister.Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full Service by Will Weaver, historical fiction.

In the book Full Service by Will Weaver, the story surrounds ar 15 year old farm boy(Paul Sutton) living in Hawk Bend. This story mainly surrounds Paul's new encounters in the summer when his mom forces him to work in town at The Shell Station. Paul is really close with his parents and religion towards the beginning of the story, and meets new friends at The Shell Station. Kirk, Peggy, Full Service by Will Weaver, historical fiction.
Dale, Janet and her family are a few friends that Paul makes over the summer. These characters all impacted Paul. Throughout the story we get to see Paul work in The Shell Station and have a relationship with a girl. One conflict Paul suffers throughout his journey is when he's working at The Shell Station, he doesn't have enough time to do his chores at the farm, so seeks for other “brothers” to cover for him. Unfortunately his mother says that if his “brothers” won't help out a little they should go work at another farm. These “brothers” perceived to do so, and the Sutton family has no more workers to help out the farm. They then resolve this conflict by meeting a few “jailbirds” along the street(almost done with their sentence) and seeks their help to work at the farm, while getting a house to sleep under and good food. I believe this is an AMAZING book to read for anyone who likes to read books and be able to relate to the characters and get a good insight on how the characters feel. This book might not be for an audience who like books that are fast paced and has a ton of action. Granted this book has action, but is only seen later into the book.

[Blake · Rating 5 out of 5]

12-7-11 The main character in this book is Paul and he lives in Hawk Bend Minnesota. He has a family is ever religion and have church at there own house every Sunday. They share a farm with other family's that have there religion and live around near them. Paul is 16 years old and he is on summer vacation right now. His mother wants him to find a job in town to meet new people. Paul and his mother go into town one day and look around in the small town to try and find a job for Paul. They looked at a few stores a clothing store and the new grocery store in town. Then they go to a gas station Shell. He walks on in and the boss is ready to hire him right away because the other man that worked there had to me drafted to Vietnam. He told Paul that he could start Monday next week.

12-14-11 Paul has been working over the summer for a while now its July now 90 degree weather. Paul has to serves a black Cadillac that is owned by a gangster. The other guys that work at the Shell Station are scared of the gangster and always hide when they see him pull in. On one summer day in the middle of the week a yellow hippy van pulled into gas station. There was a tall skinny man that got out on the van with long brown hair. Paul at the time was in the garage working on another customers car. He went over to the van and filled it up with gasoline. The hippy's name was org anally Israel but he changed it to Is. He was against the Vietnam war and was going to California on a journey to protest. When Paul was filling up the van with gas and checking it over another worker thought it would be funny to turn the drain plug a half a turn out and let him go down the road. Later that evening he told about the incident about what hanged at work to his mother and father. His father was outraged and very frustrated. They went out to look for the yellow hippy van to see if it was on the side of the road broke down. Eventually they found it and told Is that they could tow the van back to there house and help them fix it and get them back on there journey.

[Tranna Foley · Rating 3 out of 5]

From library record - In the summer of 1965, teenager Paul Sutton, a northern Minnesota farm boy, takes a job at a gas station in town, where his strict religious upbringing is challenged by new people and experiences.

I really enjoy Will Weaver's books. The characters in this one are entertaining and I love the way he brings in the historical setting and the strict fundamentalist community as compared to the townfolk (or "public" according to his mom).

Review from School Library Journal
Gr 8 Up–The summer of '65 sizzles for high school sophomore-to-be Paul and his rural Minnesota family. They are members of a nondenominational Christian sect that practices communal farm work and fellowship. At his mother's urging, Paul lands a job in town at the Shell station where assorted bamboozlers give his worldview a whack upside the head. Will members of his sect condone Paul's worldly contact? Will he bring trouble upon himself for facilitating a fling between a beautiful schoolmate and the town bad boy? Or will his moral undoing be at the hands of Janet, 16, eldest child of the hippie couple who Dad charitably invites to camp at the farm while they repair their van? Teens will likely relate to details such as Paul's secretly listening to the radio under the blankets at night and his razor-sharp observations of his loving father. Male readers, especially, may be hooked by the steamy bits and will be rewarded by a cast of carefully shaped, diverse characters who illuminate important truths about that confusing time when Vietnam began to grow in the nation's collective consciousness as a constant, if hazy, backdrop to everything. The warm, affirming denouement suggests that life's highway is endlessly fascinating, frequently challenging, and bound to include some unanticipated bumps and detours.–Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Junior High School, Iowa City, IA Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Evan Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a small town in Minnesota in 1965, a boy named Paul Sutton spends the beginning of his summer searching for a job. He ends up working at a Shell full service gas station. Some of the characters are Kirk, the mean manager. There’s Harry, a guy who is trying his hardest to lead himself into a better life. And there is Peggy, a girl that brings Paul into all of her relationship issues. Throughout the book, Paul undergoes numerous changes. Not just physical changes, but changes in his life and with his family. During Paul’s summer job, Pau learns what it’s really like out in the real world. Dealing with mean customers and tough situations. His opinions on drugs and alcohol are changed. His outlook on girls start to change. Everything that Paul does this summer is going to be a life lesson for him.
I give this book 4 stars. This book gave great life lessons and had great advice for teens while telling a story. The only flaw I have on this book is that some of the characters were over exaggerated and pretty unrealistic.
People that would be interested in this book would be teens who are going through the same thing Paul Sutton went through throughout the book. He deals with real life situations at the gas station that really show him what it’s like to be a young adult and how to deal with people. Anyone who is going through tough times with school or parents or friends, should definitely read this book.

[Houston Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

i just started reading this book on monday, but so far a good book. the boy paul kind of reminds me of myself when i was younger. because his parents made him go out and get a job. He never really went out in public before so he's really not a people person, its weird for him to be working in town because his dad runs a well known farm. but his parents wanted him to get out in public and get a real job to get ready for the outside world.
11-9-11
I've gotten way farther on this book than i would have on any other book so far. it is a really good book, it kind of fits the person i am, the kid likes motors and working on stuff the same thing i like to do. Paul and his parents do alot of good things for people in the community, thats just who they are as people and thats what they believe in.
11-16-11
well paul finally got his license and he started liking this girl that lived at his house they went cruising together in the pasture for practice for the driving test, and of course he passed. and they fall deeper inlove with eachother they go to town alone and just drive around with her cuddled up with him. well one morning they stayed out too late and paul falls asleep with the calves and he gets really dirty while in there so they make him take a bath then go back to bed. and when he wakes up his girlfriend is no longer living there. paul is heart broken.

[Lucas C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full Service by Will Weaver is about a young man's life in Hawk Bend, Minnesota in the year of 1965. This book very interesting because of the way they did things in the 1960's. He had a surprising romance with a hippie girl that he thought he would hate. He made new friends that he would never have gotten. He was able have his job in town at a service station as well as keep his chores on his farm. He has a Christian nondenominational religion so he was a kid considered weird. After socializing with all the customers he had he made friends and he was broken out of his shell. I plan on reading this book again in the future to show myself how much my life and the life around me is changing as the years go by. This book gives great details about the scenery that surrounds these detailed characters. I would recommend this book to anyone I know because it is a humorous book, but the author tried to keep everything on a very serious tone. This book is very fun to predict because it is nearly impossible to get them right. I gave this book a 5 out of 5 star review because of the great plot and many details the author put in to try and make his story sound just the way he imagined it.

[Salsabrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, I am so sorry this title sat on my "to read" list for so long. But what a treat to experience it at last. This coming-of-age-in-the-1960s story is funny, evocative, has the most memorable characters, and is hands down one of the most well-written YAs I've read. Nothing extraneous here; every word, every scene counts.

In the summer of 1965, the world is on the verge of change and so is
16-year-old Paul Sutton, a farm boy and fundamentalist Christian. His
mother encourages him to get a summer job in town and "meet the public" although his father disagrees; Paul is needed on the farm. Paul gets a job at the Shell gas station and there meets more different kinds of "the public" than he ever knew before: Kirk, his co-worker who has affairs with various women in town; Harry Blomenfeld, a former Chicago gangster; a hippie family in a broken down van; high school hotties Dale and Peggy; and assorted tourists and pretty girls. Funny novel; characters pop off the pages; fluid descriptive prose that just absorbed me.

[Saul Vizcarra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Young fans are not to be messed with. We know what we want a young, fun, amazing, Chicago mobsters, sex murderers, and fun summer break.

In the summer of school break scared and shy Paul Sutton, just wants to be himself and enjoy his summer break, but at the whining and crying of his mother, Paul takes a job at the local Shell gas station in the amazing and touring town of Hawk Bend, Minnesota.

Will Weaver has an extraordinary and amazing skill to restart scenes from the past with accurate detail and the immature point of view that has been demonstrated way before, but he puts this in a way that is perfect as if it just had happen.

After all of his moms bugging, whining, and crying he successfully becomes a sophomore well, grown and matured. I recommend this to young students which love to read fiction books that include young, fun, amazing, Chicago mobsters, sex murderers, and fun summer breaks. Full Service by Will Weaver is a great book to read.

[Grammygoodson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is supposed to be a true expose' of a gas station attendant in Hollywood, who somehow hob-nobbed with all the Hollywood elite and pimped for them, as well as had sex with them - both hetero and homo. Interestingly, all of the people he talks about are already deceased and cannot refute his statements. Many of the people were already known generally as homosexual or "ladies men", but he also talks about the sex lives that he was intimately involved in (so he says) of The Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Spencer Tracy. I felt that the book, although somewhat entertaining was mostly fabricated, as far a his involvement with these people and their excessive "activities". The sex is explicit, and he says he was personally involved in a lot of it. I felt this was a load of crap! Don't bother to read it unless you just want to laugh at it.

[Kyle]

I may be 21years old in the 2012th year of the world but I definately touched base with the format of how the gas stations were ran back in the day. With the 7point Shell Customer system I loved relating to all of the events and circumstances that are involved with a summer at a gas station. I read the book start to finish while pumping gas and I treated it as a reference. It was given to me by my past professor who knew I worked at a gas station and was quite the easy read for getting into reading as a hobbie. Hopefully our journeys lead to a great destination even if it starts at a gas station.

I finished the book on Labor Day which was the last day he pumped gas in the novel. Very Ironic.

[Heather Stewart · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a fast read and OK story. The best aspect was that it takes place in 1965, so some of the references are fun. The premise is a mother from a very religious family, similar to the Amish community, encourages her son to get a job at a full service gas station in town. Against her husband’s wishes, she wants him to see other experiences. There he meets many unique individuals and supposedly gets involved in the other side of life. However, I felt the story fell way short. The story needed to go more in-depth about the religious aspects; what they are able to do/not do and how sheltered their life is because I felt he wasn’t exposed to anything unusual for a teenage boy; nor did he act like he was much. I wanted him to be more rebellious.

[Shirley J · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's 1965 in Wisconsin. "Full Service" is a coming of age book about Paul Sutton, a high school sophmore who has grown up on a Wisconsin farm. Paul is encouraged by his mother to get a job in town and winds up working at a full-service gas station. While in town Paul 'meets the public' and events and situations tha transpire there test his faith and his beliefs.

Basically Paul is a good kid who finds himself faced with making choices his faith or his parents might not condone. While the story is not action-packed, the story is well-written from the teen's point of view.

[Neill Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Paul's farming family belong to the Faith, a non-denominational Christian group living outside a small town in Minnesota in 1965. Paul's mom thinks he should see a little more of the world by getting a job at a filling station in town. Paul's experiences involve war protestors, hippies, the summer girls from the nearby lake, a philandering co-worker, a retired gangster, and his first girl friend. Paul's expanded world view gives him new insights into his life and his religion.

[Kelsey Jacks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full Service is about a sixteen year old boy, Paul, who is used to a conservative lifestyle on the farm with his family. When he turns sixteen his mother wants him to get a job in town at gas station so he can meet people. This book is about Paul’s encounters with various people coming and going at the gas station. Paul comes to his own conclusions about what he believes and what he wants with his life by meeting different people with different values. I would use this book in a guided reading setting.

[Alexandra Montoya · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was an interesting window into the past for me - based in 1965 - and it didn't end like I expected it to, but I really enjoyed it....Hippies, retired gangstas, Mr. Shell - all the characters were well-developed and you feel like you're right there with Paul through all his adventures away from his strange and strict religious upbringing (no offense), and the ups and downs he goes through. An over-all good read!

[Jessica-Robyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book oddly fascinating. The story follows a conservative Christian teenage boy in a rural community who gets a job at a gas station and expands his experiences with the world. The plot itself doesn't have a lot going for it. It's a pretty basic character driven book, but what made it such an interesting read to me was the fact that the perspective is so unlike my own.

Not something I'd jump to recommend, but still an interesting read.

[Gloria]

I feel it would be unfair to rate this book because I have nothing with which to compare it. I don't read YA fiction (I didn't read it even when I was at that age).
So, I don't know if this is good or not.

I know I enjoyed Mr. Weaver's collection of short stories (A Gravestone Made of Wheat), but after having recently finished something like McCuller's The Heart is a Lonely Hunter ... well, it's just hard to jump into much of anything else.

[Chi Dubinski · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s 1965 in rural Minnesota, and teenager Paul’s mother urges him to take a job in town at the local Shell station. Paul’s family belongs to a conservative Christian sect which practices communal farming and fellowship. Paul is uneasy about meeting the townspeople, who include the popular local teens, a retired gangsters, and travelling hippies. One reviewer called this book Lake Woebegone meets “The Outsiders.” A heartwarming, fun coming-of-age tale.

[Meredith · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was so boring. Never has a main character has so many opportunities to have a personality but manages to just be a blank recipient who never really does much of anything. Everything happens TO him for inexplicable reasons. Maybe the "crazy" times of the sixties mean that personality-less teens magically become active participants in all sorts of shenanigans. I doubt it. It was hard to finish and the only reason I did was because it was required.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a sweet, quiet book about the coming of age of a boy who grew up on a farm and was part of a very conservative religion. Although times are different now, I think that young people can still relate to the struggle to find one's own identity and deal with the all the temptations of drugs, sex and alcohol. I love Will Weaver. I found this book in the recycle bin after I locked my keys in my car and was waiting for my husband to rescue me. I needed some "full service."