The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester by Barbara O'Connor

Booktalk version: Owen has found a wonderful, fantastic thing by the train tracks while living at his grandfather's house and exploring the pond and woods around the house during a hot Southern summer. While deciding what to do about this wonderful thing, Owen learns about friendship, secrets, and what to do if something you love really wants to be free. Rich language and descriptions create vivid imagery of Owen's adventures as he makes friends and difficult decisions.

Full-length version: The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester by Barbara O'Connor lets you know right away that it is set in the South, mentioning jars of pickled okra on the first page, and the sense of setting stays strong throughout the book. The smells, sounds and sights of summer in small town in Georgia permeate the story, so a reader can smell the honeysuckle, hear the chirp of crickets and the "deep r-u-u-u-m-m-m of a bullfrog," and imagine the rickety ladder leading up to the hay-covered floor of the hayloft in the falling-down barn.

Owen Jester and his parents live with his grandfather and Earlene, his grandfather's nurse and housekeeper and cook, because Owen's father lost his job. The opportunities for Owen to explore the surrounding woods, train tracks, and pond almost make up for his irritating neighbor, Viola, and the mean-spirited Earlene. One night Owen hears a strange sound as a train passes by, which leads to adventures he never imagined with his friends Travis and Stumpy.

Woven throughout the story is Owen's concern for a bullfrog he caught at the pond after a long wait. Owen struggles with his love for the frog and the "niggle" in his brain that tells him something is wrong. The two storylines of the boys' adventure and the bullfrog blend together to highlight the theme of what to do when something doesn't belong to you but you love or want it desperately.

The word choice in this book is lovely:

Viola's sandals made a slapping noise...

The bolts made pingy noises as they hit garden tools...

...kicking his froggy legs the livelong day...

Her voice swirled around the room like a horde of angry bees.

Owen's tornado of aggravation was spinning so fast it took all the words out of his head.

Readers learning about word choice and setting would find a gold mine in The Fantastic Secret of Owen Jester. A quick, fun, summer read about the adventures of one boy and the lessons he learned about friendship and what to do when you love something but you need to decide whether to let it go free or not.