- 2 young friends make many bad decisions in their boyish play, resulting in massive messes and hilarious havoc
- convo: mentions corporal punishment a number of times (thrashing, whip, licking, etc.), some deceitful behavior, kids “torture” each other, a mean girl is called a redskin, a pee joke, a boy and girl are supposed sweethearts (they never talk about it, only look at each other during a certain song), smoking in one chapter
- language: x3 gee, x1 ass (the crude way), x3 heck, x1 arse, x1 jackass, x1 gosh
Type: chapter book
Ages: 10+
Author: Robert Newton Peck
This is not a safe book! By that I mean, it isn’t moralistic, didactic, nor free of foul language. Because of that, I actually recommend you not hand this over to a third grader simply because that’s the age of the main characters. Not only will older children have had more life training, they might actually find it more funny than they would have at a younger age.
Told by Rob, the best friend of Soup, we get an inside glimpse into the mind of a typical American boy living in Vermont a handful of decades ago. From rolling down a hill inside a barrel to making their own pipes out of acorns, the author turns seemingly average activities into entertaining events. Readers will find their cheeks hurt with all the hilarity! It makes me think of Tom Sawyer, and, comparing the two, I like Soup a lot more.
This book has been on my list for years, and I’m so glad I finally got around to it. The last chapter is sweetly satisfying. Happy reading!