Boy's Life

Robert McCammon

The story of one year of life in a small, southern town told in first person from the perspective of 11 year old Cory. From the beginning, Cory admits to the magic of youth. That is, kids have access to magic that adults don't, and as you give up that magic (with maturity perhaps) you can never get it back. With this postulate, McCammon is able to enter into a story telling from the perspective of kids who have access to this magic (or from the adult perspective, vivid imagination). As a result, as a reader you are witness to scenes of reality, scenes of clear magic, and some of those in between that you are just not sure about the perspective. Running the length of the story is a murder mystery that drives the plot. Cory and his father witness a car driving over an embankment into the lake. But since the lake is so deep, no body is recovered, and no missing persons are reported anywhere local. So maybe there was no murder. But for Cory, there is definitely a mystery. This driving narrative force is always in the back of Cory's mind and it holds together the meandering life of an 11 year old and his friends, through lazy summer, winter storms, school, family strife, new friends, vacation and all the important markers of childhood. And it is this that the book is really about. Growing up, holding on to magic, and letting magic go.
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