Review by Booklist Review
Eleven-year-old Ben Putter is kind of a weird kid. He's not majorly crazy, but he does have conversations with inanimate objects. And in the months since his golf-obsessed dad died, Ben has been convinced there's a golf ball lodged in his neck. And when Dad pipes up from beyond the grave, asking Ben to scatter his ashes on the eighteenth hole of the Augusta National Golf Club, Ben, craving his father's attention and understanding, runs away from home to do so. There's a lot going on in this book, which is set during the furor over school integration in the South. Ben feels guilt for not sticking up for his friend May, one of the first African American kids in his school. His fierce traveling companion, Noni, is secretive and maybe untrustworthy. And it seems like everyone they meet on their journey is grieving over their own losses. Best for readers who like a wealth of plot and southern setting, as in Sheila Turnage's Three Times Lucky (2012).--Willey, Paula Copyright 2016 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In a story set in 1972 in a South pushing back against integration, Lawson (Nooks & Crannies) delivers a complex and often touching exploration of father-son relationships. Ben Putter's recently deceased father, a passionate golfer who never went pro, seemed perpetually disappointed with his shy son, who lives to draw and paint. When he starts speaking to Ben from the urn that holds his ashes, Ben-in an act that goes against everything in his nature-sets out to scatter the ashes on the 18th hole of the Augusta National Golf Club, 400 miles away, accompanied by a runaway named Noni who has her own, unexplained, reasons for needing to get to Augusta. Their journey follows a few predictable lines-taking on fake identities, hopping freight trains, and truck stealing-and some atypical ones, such as Ben expertly butchering a pig. Throughout, Ben and his father have the conversations they couldn't when his father was alive. Ben and Noni are believable characters whose contrasting personalities play well against each other, but the story's magical elements mix uneasily with its strong foundation of realism. Ages 8-12. Agent: Tina Wexler, ICM. (May) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-7-Luke Daniels does a superb job bringing to life 11-year-old Benjamin Putter, his friend Noni, his dead dad, and a myriad of other characters in this winsome story. Benjamin is worried about the lump in his throat that he's had since his dad died. He is trying to help his mom run her business as they both deal with their loss. Then the urn containing Mr. Putter's ashes-or Mr. Putter's ashes themselves-start talking to Ben, telling him to take the urn to Atlanta and scatter the ashes on the 18th hole at Augusta National. Noni, who is a runaway, befriends Ben and says she'll help him get to Augusta. She has a secret of her own that connects to Ben and his father. Family, friendship, loyalty, loss, and love are nicely woven together. Listeners will root for Ben to succeed in fulfilling his promise and relate to the difficulties that father/son relationships can sometimes have. VERDICT Recommended for upper elementary and middle school collections. ["An absorbing work of historical fiction": SLJ 3/16 review of the S. & S. book.]-Cynthia Ortiz, Hackensack High School, NJ © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
