‘Racing the Past’ will win over young audiences

RACING THE PAST by Sis Deans, Henry Holt and Company, New York, 2001, 151 pages, $15.95.

Many spend their lives running from the past, but Maine writer Sis Deans has created a character that is able to put a more competitive spin on things – he races the past.

“Racing the Past,” a work for young adults, tells the tough tale of a boy growing up in a small Maine community. Ricky Gordon has endured perhaps more than his share of pain over the course of his 11 years, with the natural difficulties of growing up poor complicated by his abusive and alcoholic father, who manages to cause problems for the Gordon family both in life and death.

Ricky feels a guilty relief after his father drives himself to his death in a drunken crash one night. After more than a few encounters with the police, Ricky’s father and his two uncles, who both are in jail, have a reputation beyond the town of Harmony Center. Ricky’s family is left to struggle, but that struggle seems a pleasant respite from years of hiding from William Gordon’s anger.

Despite his flair for anything mathematical, school usually equals trouble for Ricky. Bullies delight in his family’s unsavory past and few are willing to make friends with a member of that family. Even Ricky’s only friend, Lyle Benson, is periodically prohibited from bringing his friend home by his wary mother.

The book begins with Ricky in the principal’s office, guilty of another altercation with the bullies’ unspoken leader, Bugsy McCarthy. Ricky makes a deal with the principal to avoid a call home to his already harried mother, but knows that continuing to ride the bus every day will put himself in an impossible situation – namely, in a confined space with Bugsy.

So he decides to run to school and back home to avoid taking the bus.

Ricky’s plight is realistically yet compassionately set up by Deans, who shows an uncanny understanding of both the cruelty and hope of a child’s world in a small Maine town. The way in which she describes Ricky’s quest to beat the bus home by following shortcuts and running the whole way is both creative and believable. Any young reader will understand the fear of the “bus bullies” and the solace of a familiar path leading home. Ricky’s protectiveness of his only brother also is accurately portrayed with a mix of big-brother pride and disgust for the second-grader’s more childish actions.

Deans, a mother of three who has written other children’s books set in Maine, explores sensitive issues such as death, alcoholism, domestic abuse, small-town gossip and poverty, with skill. The book, which is probably appropriate for mature grade-school readers as well as middle-school age pupils, does not soften reality beyond where that reality would lose its meaning. Images of abuse and harsh words are pervasive, but necessary if the reader is to understand Ricky’s life.

However, in some instances, the characterization of Ricky might be considered heavy-handed. For example, the writer mentions in passing that Ricky was kicked out of Boy Scouts, which may strike the reader as a gratuitous and unnecessary way to hammer home the boy’s history of trouble. Ricky’s newfound determination to improve his running ability and avoid Bugsy also may be portrayed as a tad too absolute, but can be chalked up to a writer trying to make sure her young audience gets the point.

But “Racing the Past’s” smooth transitions, more-than-solid characterization and well-calculated pace send the novel streaking through to the finish line without a hitch. Young readers won’t have a problem maintaining their interest in Ricky’s life. A compelling, and perhaps more importantly for its youthful audience, exciting plot coupled with skillful writing keeps “Racing the Past” on track.