A Real American

By Richard Easton

Eleven-year-old Nathan McClelland hates the fact that everything is changing in his small farming community, now that the countryside is turning into a coalfield. His best friend just moved away and immigrant miners have built shanties where his farm used to be. To his parents' dismay, Nathan befriends a young immigrant boy named Arturo, who walks back and forth across his lane every day on his way to the coal mines. Nathan decides to help Arturo become a real American--the kind of friend he thinks he wants--but soon discovers that he and Arturo have more in common than he realized. When an accident befalls Arturo, Nathan must challenge traditional ways of thinking in order to come to the aid of his friend.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618133399
• ISBN13: 9780618133390
• Release Date: April 2002
• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.8" x 0.8" x 6.0"
• Age Range: 10 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 7

Customer Reviews

A Great Read for Kids and for Adults Too

What a wonderful book! Author Richard Easton weaves a charming story and fast-paced tale that tells of two boys who learn how to build friendship in spite of enormous social barriers; who discover how to acknowledge their faults and forgive each other; who realize that by courageously doing the right thing, a young person can have a big impact on his family and the wider society. A Real American is To Kill a Mockingbird for kids. I plan to give it to each of my six grandchildren as an investment in their learning to love good books and in their simply learning to love.

A Teacher's Praise

I love the book! It is beautifully done, and the two young boys are wonderful characters that pull you in immediately. The entire time I was rooting for Nathan to make the right decisions and he did. Arturo is a loveable young man that has the dignity and enthusiasm for life that I wish all children possessed. Their relationship is the heart of the book, but the history and the social/ family tension is a wonderful thread throughout the novel.

A truly remarkable novel

This novel not only descriptfully shows the past, but also puts you in the shoes of an eleven-year-old, Nathan McClelland. There is very good character development, which makes the entire novel even more believable. This book is refreshing, and don't except to be able to put it down.