Also Known as Elvis

Gr 5–8—In this final book in the series, Skeezie Tookis looks back 12 years to the summer he was 13, when his mother, struggling to raise him and his two sisters alone, insists he get a job to help out. Skeezie hires on at the Candy Kitchen, favorite hangout of the Gang of Five, forming a special friendship with 19-year-old waitress Steffie, who nicknames him Elvis. Slicking back his hair and wearing his deadbeat dad's black leather motorcycle jacket are Skeezie's way of holding on to him, even as his anger over his father's desertion consumes him. When his dad turns up in Paintbrush Falls, Skeezie must face his ambivalent feelings head on: while his mother and sisters are hoping for a reconciliation, his father's plan is to seek a divorce so he can remarry and take Skeezie with him to his new life in Rochester. With his three best friends away on vacation, Skeezie is on his own as he grapples with his decision to stay or leave. Howe skillfully blends humor and pathos, effectively conveying the protagonist's conflicted feelings, even through his wisecracks, and his characterization is robust and nuanced. Skeezie narrates the story to his soon-to-be-born son, and readers learn at the outset, as they did in the conclusion of The Misfits (S. & S., 2001), how things turned out for the Gang of Five, but knowing doesn't lessen the impact of this compelling story. A most fitting and satisfying conclusion.—Marie Orlando, formerly at Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY