An eleven-year-old boy living in Memphis in 1959 throws the meanest fastball in town, but talking is a whole different ball game. He can barely say a word without stuttering, not even his own name. So when he takes over his friend’s paper route, he knows he’ll be forced to communicate with the customers, including a housewife who drinks too much and a retired merchant marine who seems to know everything.
The paper route poses challenges, but it’s a run-in with the neighborhood junkman, a bully, and a thief, stirring up trouble.
I had to look some things up to understand this story. I watched a video of kids who stutter so I could understand how they sound. The thing I was more curious about is what causes stuttering.
While I was discussing this story with my mom, I realized just how difficult it is must be for this boy. I can speak so easily, but he has to think about every single movement his mouth makes and the sound that comes out. When I talk, I don’t think about that stuff. I just do it.
It’s interesting all the tricks he uses to speak. And the situations where he doesn’t have too much trouble speaking. I don’t know why, but I struggled to wrap my mind around this particular ‘difference’.