THE TRUTH AS TOLD BY MASON BUTTLE


22 March 2018 THE TRUTH AS TOLD BY MASON BUTTLE by Leslie Connor, HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen, January 2018, 336p., ISBN: 978-0-06-249143-5

 

“No one I think is in my tree

I mean it must be high or low”

--Lennon/McCartney (1967)

 

“Some people might think they already know my story. That’s just because they live around here. Some stuff is plain. Some stuff is right where you can see it.

If you lived in Merrimack you might know our place. It’s the crumbledown house out on Swaggertown Road. Sits a good bit of acres that used to be a whole lot more. Developers. My Uncle Drum says we can’t live without them. My grandma says we should have tried.

You might know our orchard. You might remember it looking alive as a hive late in the summer. PYO. Pick Your Own.

If you are like me your eyes about pop out of your head at how quick the developers dozered down the trees. They are still building. New houses. Up the hill and down the hill from our place. You might look at our house sitting in the middle and wonder why it looks like somebody emptied a dustpan over it.

I try. I sweep up the porch. Pull weeds in the front. But I am now and then about it. I don’t keep up. Uncle Drum says just leave it. Then another shingle drops off the roof. Lands in the yard.

But it is still home. The place I start from every day. If I had a story to tell it might begin there. But tell you what. It would not be long before I got to the parts that could ruin anybody’s lunch.”

 

No, he didn’t ruin my lunch but, as Mason Buttle’s coming-of-age story reached a climax, it did bring me to tears. That’s toward the end. At the beginning of Mason’s tale, we encounter a series of puzzling questions and situations, and wonder how they might be related to one another:

 

 

Mason was the one to find Benny dead at the base of the treehouse in the middle of the Buttle apple orchards. That was a year-and-a-half ago. Lieutenant Baird from the Merrimack P.D. has spent that year-and-a-half relentlessly pressuring Mason for additional information that he’s sure Mason is withholding about Benny’s death.

 

In addition to Lieutenant Baird, two of Mason’s peers, sadistic lacrosse players Matt Drinker and sidekick Lance Pierson, are making Mason’s life a living hell with their daily verbal and physical attacks. Matt lives in one of those houses built on what had been part of the Buttle apple orchards.  Complicating the situation is that Matt’s mother often hires Mason to take care of their dog Moonie.

 

Fortunately, Mason, the largest seventh grader in the school, becomes friends with Calvin Chumsky, a smart, inquisitive kid and one of the smallest kids in the school. Calvin also lives in a new house on former Buttle land. The real heart of Mason’s story is the friendship that develops between the pair. When he’s with Calvin, we can see the stand-up kid Mason Buttle is.

 

Mason does find some refuges. In school, he often hangs out in SWOOF, the office of caring and empathic social worker Ms. Blinny. She sets Mason up with dictation software that enables him to tell his story and try to puzzle out what happened to Benny without needing to put pen to paper. At home, to escape from the bullies, he and Calvin construct an amazing subterranean hideout that includes painted replicas of the artwork in the famous Lascaux caves in France. With Ms. Blinny and Calvin there for him, life is tolerable.

 

But the sudden development of a new mystery brings everything to a head. The innocent and naive Mason comes to realize, for the first time, that townspeople and Lieutenant Baird, and even Benny’s parents, believe he was involved in Benny’s death. This devastates him.

 

There are intriguing aspects to just about every character in the story. I love the character development in Mason as well as the members of the supporting cast: Calvin, Uncle Drum and Grandma, the cop, the young woman living with the Buttles, and the social worker. Hey, even the dog is a character I won’t soon forget.

 

The character I’m still trying to get my head around is Matt Drinker’s mother. There are lots of books for young people that include bully characters, but so few of them give us a look at the parent of a bully the way that this book does.

 

One the one hand, Mrs. Drinker is kind to Mason. On the other hand, she lets her son abuse Mason. Far into the story, there is a scene in which Mason is running from Matt, with the not-so-small dog Moonie in his arms. Seemingly oblivious to his own well being, Mason is desperately trying to reach the Drinker’s house and get Moonie to safety before Matt can hurt the dog. Just as Mason successfully reaches the Drinker house:

 

“I call, ‘Mrs. Drinker! Hey, Mrs. Drinker!’ I see the back door crack open. I say, ‘Brought Moonie ba--’

BAM!

Matt’s whole body hits my whole body. He leads with that lacrosse stick going sideways. I lose my hold on Moonie. He slips to the ground. I am bashed smack into the side of the Drinker house. A big grunt comes out of me. A pain shoots up my elbow. Good thing is, I see Moonie scoot away. Just fine.”

 

How does Mrs. Drinker respond, having just observed what her son just did to Mason? She does next to nothing! She asks Mason if he’s okay and calmly tells Matt that he has to go in the house and that his friends have to leave. Matt has no shame. First he argues against going in and, when Mrs. Drinker puts her foot down and insists that Matt do so, Matt shoves her aside as he enters the house.

 

What gives with this kid? In this age of #MeToo, seeing how Matt Drinker treats his mother without consequences, I cannot help but anticipate that it will be only a few years before Matt is unashamedly taking whatever he wants from whichever young women are unlucky enough to attract his attention.

 

Has Mrs. Drinker, herself, been a victim of abuse? Is Matt’s behavior the result of indulgent parenting going awry? Kids like Matt don’t develop into adolescent bullies without the parents knowing it. What role has Mrs. Drinker played in this development?

 

There are so many facets to this story. Together, they make for a powerful, captivating, and heartwarming read about a kid who is truthful, loyal, and trusting. The only thing missing are instructions for the yummy apple crisps his grandmother bakes. But don’t worry; I make apple crisps all the time. Feel free to email me and I’ll send you my recipe.

 

Richie Partington, MLIS

Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com

https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/

richiepartington@gmail.com