<i>The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis</i> (review)
2009; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 63; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.0.1340
ISSN1558-6766
Autores Tópico(s)Themes in Literature Analysis
ResumoReviewed by: The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis Elizabeth Bush O'Connor, Barbara . The Small Adventure of Popeye and Elvis. Foster/Farrar, 2009150p. ISBN 978-0-374-37055-8$16.99 R Gr. 4-6 There's not much cookin' in the summer in Fayette, South Carolina, and Popeye could certainly do with a buddy other than his grumbly grandmother Velma and good-for-nothing Uncle Dooley. Friendship just about pulls up to his doorstep when a motor home gets mired in the mud and disgorges, among its boisterous occupants, Elvis Jewell, who has the knack for creating adventure when adventure fails to find him. The two boys light on a boat made from a Yoo-Hoo chocolate-drink carton that comes floating down the creek with a cryptic message inside; other boats follow, and Elvis proposes they locate the sender. It's not easy for Popeye to relinquish his customary timidity, but soon he and Elvis are hiking up the forbidden creek trail with the zeal of explorers—explorers, that is, who have to do a fair amount of conniving and fibbing to their elders. The payoff for their efforts is tracking down a little girl in shabby butterfly wings, Princess Starletta Rainey, who amuses her lonely self by launching her eccentric watercraft downstream. She lives in a ramshackle house crammed with trinkets and curiosities, and has a dog cemetery just beyond her backyard; who could ask for more? When the Jewells finally extract their rolling home from the muck, thanks in part to Uncle Dooley and his ne'er-do-well friends, a bolder and more adventurous Popeye has found a new friend in Princess Starletta, and an appreciation of the wonders that are hidden just beyond the road. This may indeed be a small adventure in terms of plot, but the rich specificity of the experience should keep readers involved as they join the buddies in puzzling out Starletta's messages and dodging Velma's wrath. Copyright © 2009 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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