Skinny

by Robert Burch

An eleven-year-old orphan temporarily working at Miss Bessie's hotel hopes arrangements can be made to enable him to stay there instead of being sent to an orphans' home

106 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1964

About the author

Robert Joseph Burch (June 25, 1925 – December 25, 2007) was an American writer of 19 children's books whose readers are "usually young adolescents". Many of his stories are based on his childhood experiences in rural Georgia during the Great Depression. He was born in Fayette County, Georgia, and spent the majority of his life there.

Reviews

[Ryan Fowler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second book from my cousin

Picking up he really only focuses on one character. Doesn’t bother me at all, I like the picture he paints. In both books so far he has included rambling man type characters. Knowing what I know about his life, I would guess this is how he chose to view himself.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where did I pick up this book from the '60's? Felt obligated to finish it but it was anti-climatic. Being a child's book, I'm not the target audience but won't necessarily pass on to nephews. I guess could be a good conversation starter with families about gratitude, things not going the way you hope and friendship.

[JJ Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute story, really quick paced and easy to read. Highly recommend if you need to boost your book count!

[Wayne Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skinny is an eleven-year-old boy, “going on twelve,” who lives in a small town in rural Georgia, probably sometime during the 1950s. His mother died so long ago he can barely remember her. Then his father passed away recently, so he’s an orphan. Right now, there’s not enough room at the orphanage for him, so he’s been staying and working at the hotel owned by Miss Bessie. Even though he’d gone to school two or three weeks every year, he never learned how to read and write because there was always cotton to pick so his pa pulled him out, and besides Pa didn’t believe much in education anyway. If Miss Bessie were married, the county people might let her adopt Skinny, so he hopes some kind of arrangements can be made to enable him to stay with her instead of being sent to the orphans' home.

Skinny enjoys doing chores at the hotel and spending time with Miss Bessie; Roman, a former member of the chain gang whom Miss Bessie rescued to work for her; Peachy, the cook; R.F.D, his rat terrier; and the hotel guests, especially Frank J. “Daddy” Rabbit, one of the bridge construction crew who becomes fond of Miss Bessie and talks about marriage. Also, Skinny makes friends with Calvin, the son of carnival workers, and the two boys make plans to run away. Will they do it? Will Daddy Rabbit and Miss Bessie get married? What will happen to Skinny? Where will he go? Skinny is a somewhat slow-moving but pleasant story about rural life in the South during the middle twentieth century. The conclusion is somewhat bittersweet and everything doesn’t end up neatly wrapped up with a bow, but it is ultimately satisfying.

There is one scene where Skinny is at a carnival and goes in to see the gypsy fortuneteller. However, no bad language occurs, not even any euphemisms. Concerning the author, who was born in Fayette County, GA, the back page notes, “Mr. Burch shares with other fine writers the ability to capture vividly the true-to-life sound of regional speech. Although Skinny’s language would never serve as a model for correct grammar, it conveys to young readers the ‘sound’ of rural Georgia. The genuine ring of colloquial speech is the mark of a skilled writer’s ear for language.” I thought that this was a very enjoyable read, alternating between funny and poignant. My copy was a Young America Book Club edition that I picked up in a used book store, but the book has been republished by the University of Georgia Press.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skinny is one funny, affecting book, taking place in rural Georgia in the 1950s or thereabouts. Skinny is an orphan boy, with quite a bit stacked against him. Mostly he's not into noticing how hard his life is, but he does think he ought to learn how to read, now that he's almost 12. Whether the author knew Flannery O'Connor or not, the interesting characters which fit so well in Southern Gothic, are tucked into Skinny as well.

and here is my review from LibraryThing.com:

Skinny, an orphan boy in rural Georgia, is happy enough working at a small hotel doing odd jobs. He's thinking he ought to learn to read, but considering the time it would take out of his life to do so, has not made it a priority. Written in 1964, there's all sorts of "issues" which are touched upon, but not addressed in overbearing detail, like an angry abusive father, being homeless, losing a beloved pet, friendship. I thought it a great little, surprisingly humorous book.

[Evelyn Montez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a sad story about a kid who lived in a hotel with the owner named ms.bess a lady named peachy and a guy named roman .his name was skinny his ma and pa died and he had no education .so what should be come of him . skinny didn't want to go to an orphans home .he would run away before that happened . I really liked this book it was very explanatory . it taught the hardships of life .like some days are good some are bad.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book when I was a kid, but I remember really liking it. It says here that the book was published in 1990, but I'm sure that's a re-publication, because my copy was much older. From my memory, the book was about the tension between people in south. It's a good read for s middle-schooler -- if you're lucky enough to find the book!

[Belle Meade School]

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