By Vince Vawter
Victor is an 11-year-old boy with two traits that make
him stand out:
1. He's got a fantastic pitching arm.
2. He stutters.
It’s 1959 in Memphis.
Kids and adults alike admire Victor’s ability on the baseball
field. But Victor keeps most people at
arm’s length because of his disability.
It’s just so hard to communicate that often he doesn’t even try.
When Victor takes over his friend Rat’s paper route
temporarily, he knows it will mean extra money in his pocket. But it will also mean being forced to talk to
strangers, especially when he has to collect the fees. Victor expects the challenge, but he doesn’t
expect the profound ways his clients will move him.
Victor is consistently shocked, for example, by the boy
at one house who is constantly in front of the TV with the sound turned
off. The boy never seems to play
outside, only watches TV.
He is also enamoured with Mrs. Worthington, an attractive
but sad woman, whom he meets along the way.
But his most meaningful relationship is formed with Mr.
Spiro, a former merchant marine, who never interrupts Victor or suggests that
his stutter is problematic. In fact, Mr.
Spiro is the only person he’s met who mentions the stutter at all, telling
Victor to focus on things he likes so that the stutter can gradually fade away.
Victor is also very close with Mam, the woman who cooks
and cleans for his family, and who practically raises him herself. When Victor runs afoul of a dangerous man in
the neighbourhood, it’s Mam who sets things right.
Paperboy is
a coming of age story about a boy discovering his own strengths and learning
that others have weaknesses too. Over
the course of the summer, Victor learns that having a disability won’t stop him
from growing into a very capable adult.
