When Zachary Beaver Came To Town
by Kimberly Willis Holt
Winner of the National Book Award for Young People's Literature Thirteen year old Toby Wilson is having the toughest summer of his life. It's the summer his mother leaves town to try her luck as a country singer in Nashville. The summer his best friend Cal's brother is serving in Vietnam. And the summer Zachary Beaver, the fattest boy in the world, arrives in Toby's sleepy Texas town. Toby and his best friend Cal start their summer off by lining up in a parking lot, waiting to see the fattest boy in the world who spends his life traveling from small town to small town letting people traipse through his trailer and stare at him for money. But Zachary Beaver is seemingly abandoned in his trailer as the driver of the truck pulls away.  Zachary isn't getting out and everyone in town is trying to get in. After Toby and Cal befriend Zachary, they learn that everyone has a different perspective in life and that making one friend in a summer can be a great thing. .An excellent choice to read alone or aloud."
-School Library Journal