Sixteen-year-old Paul Sutton lives in a small Minnesota town. It’s 1965, and while the nation creeps toward further turmoil over the war in Vietnam, nothing ever changes for Paul, whose life is sheltered by family and religion. Then his mother urges him to find a job in town. Paul ends up pumping gas at the local station, and suddenly he’s in the midst of a host of dramas both small and large that leave him changed in ways he could never have imagined. He witnesses blatant infidelity and passionate attraction; unabashed bigotry and unfailing kindness. He falls in love. Already at odds in ways he can’t fully articulate with the rigid ideals of his own religious upbringing, Paul finds himself more and more uncertain of his willingness to commit to his faith. His father and church leaders frown, but Will knows that even without having the answers, being able to ask questions is essential. Will Weaver’s dramatically understated story about a teenage boy’s coming of age features characters that are superbly drawn, from Paul’s fair but sometimes unyielding father to his quiet but determined mother who knows the world is changing, and wants Paul to be able to think for himself and make his own way. (Ages 12–16)

The times they are a-changin' . . .

The summer that Paul turns sixteen his mother pushes him to take a job in town instead of just working on the family farm. "You need to meet the public," she says, which is saying a lot for a woman deeply committed to the tightly knit religious community to which they belong. And meet the public Paul does: He meets Kirk, the angry gas station manager; Harry, a reclusive and kindly gangster; and a family of hippies passing in a yellow peace van to San Francisco. He also meets beautiful Peggy, a high school sensation, and dark-haired Dale, her onthe-side boyfriend who is headed to Vietnam. All of them come to the station – as well as girls on summer vacation, tanned and smelling of coconut oil, and ministers from Paul's fundamentalist church, who are worried about his soul. As the summer progresses, Paul learns the secrets of his small Minnesota town and discovers that he's ready to have a few secrets of his own.

With richly developed characters and a flair for arresting imagery, Will Weaver tells the story of the end of one boy's innocence, unfolding at a time when the country as a whole is undergoing a difficult, deeply disturbing coming-of-age.