Don't Take a Ride in Darnell Dixon's Rivy Dog of Love: Christopher Paul Curtis Talks About His New Book, Bucking the Sarge

ALAN Review, Fall 2004 by Smith, Kay

KS: Each of your books seems to be built around chapters. Do they help you organize your thoughts, almost like an outline? Do you have all the chapter titles determined before the end of the book, and then flesh out the chapters as you continue writing?

CPC: I do the opposite, actually. I name the chapters after they are written. That's one of the really fun parts of writing and I use it as a reward for finishing.

KS: Any new accomplishments at your house?

CPC: I'm working on a novel that I'm absolutely in love with called Elijah of Buxton. It takes place in Ontario, Canada, in the 1860s, and I have never had a writing experience like this; the book is flying out of me!

KS: We can't wait to read it! Thank you so much for your fabulous books, your willingness to speak person to person with young adult audiences all over, and for sharing your thoughts on Bucking the Sarge.

CPC: You're welcome.

The only way we readers can make the wait for Elijah of Buxton more endurable is to pick up a copy of Bucking the Sarge during the wait. Our interview with Mr. Curtis only begins to capture the mood and essence ot his new novel. Only in the reading can we travel with Luther T. from old homes into new and better places, only in the reading can we laugh at the hilarious capers of boys growing up in Flint, Michigan, and only in the reading that we recognize Luther's ability to make sense of the world:

As I pulled onto the expressway I couldn't help thinking of that great philosopher, whose name escapes me at the moment, who once said, "He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day (259).

And it is in the reading that we now have more characters to root for. Thank you, Mr. Curtis!

Review of Bucking the Sarge

Once again, Christopher Paul Curtis's beloved hometown of Flint, Michigan, provides the setting and (not so beloved) home for his teenage protagonist. In Bucking the Sarge, Curtis's latest offering from Wendy Lamb Books (Random House), fifteen-year-old Luther T. Farrell is a young man intent on living life the way he sees fit and bucking the control of his tyrannical mother, the Sarge. The Sarge, so nicknamed for her drill instructor interpersonal style, is just as intent on keeping Luther within the grip of her iron fist where she can exploit him as cheap labor in her string of rental units. Luther and his friend Sparky do odd maintenance jobs for the Sarge, including painting, and cleaning out the possessions of evicted tenants-a task that Luther finds both immoral and distasteful.

Sarge is a greedy and conniving Flint slumlord with considerable influence and property holdings and a talent for bending others to her will. She has conned a local government official into faking Luther's age on a driver's license so he can work for her governmentscamming group home for elderly men. In addition to assorted work on Sarge's other properties, Luther drives the group home van, taking the residents to the doctor and other necessities. Sarge further exploits Luther by requiring he live in the home and provide for the residents' personal needs. He does all this, surely more than a full-time job, while juggling school, the rigors of his beloved science fair, a wanna-be romance with smart Shayla, and his friendship with his hilarious sidekick, Sparky.