Lanky Tales, Vol. I: The Bird Man & Other Stories

Imagine a young boy who's already six feet, four inches tall at age thirteen, and you'll know how Laurence Lonagan got the name "Lanky." It's the year 1913, long before radios, television, and computers were heard of. And even telephones and automobiles are rare in the small mountain town of Claggett Cove where Lanky lives with his mother. Lanky's adventures always seem to happen when he tries to help somebody in trouble or when he gets a well-intentioned idea to make some situation better. And then ... wham! Things go horribly wrong. This is when Lanky calls upon himself to "fix the problem." By using his clever, quirky, and often humorous way of looking at things, Lanky saves the day and all ends well. Lanky is all-boy, full of fun and eager for discovery. He could easily have been a pal of Tom Sawyer or the Hardy Boys. Throughout the various Lanky Tales, the citizens of the Cove emerge and appear in story after story ... folks like Angus McTavish, who runs the General Store; Preacher McPheters, whom Lanky rescues more than once from some impending disaster; Dibb Dozier, the Cove's hermit whose life Lanky saves during a blizzard; and others, like Miss Eunice Quackenbush, the choir leader who can't sing well; Li Chiang, the Chinese railroad worker who is robbed and left for dead; and Billy Red Wing, the Cherokee Indian who must live with his family in hiding. And there are the animals: Lady, the fawn, who stops an impending train wreck; Benjamin, the cat who saves a life; and Ruby, the faithful dog who changes the lives of a lot of people by her example of loyalty and gentle kindness. Lanky Tales are funny, thoughtful, and timeless and are designed for boys and girls who are in the "tween years" (9-12), but are fun for all the family.