Recycling George

Synopsis

That's what happens to twelve-year-old George Honiker when his sister and brother-in-law move out of the Versailles Trailer Park while George is at school. Is it the end of George's world? Well, hardly! For the quick-witted, resourceful, and upwardly mobile George, it's the chance of a lifetime.

Faster than you can say Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, George bunks in with his classmate Rennie Whitfield. Rennie just happens to be the richest kid in town. A motorboat for his birthday. Thoroughbred horses. A butler. Really nice clothes. It's life at the top for George, and he's more than ready to have it all...until he finds that the Whitfields have some very big plans for him, too!

Populated with a host of giddy, offbeat characters, Recycling George is a funny, exuberant story that also packs an emotional wallop.

Children's Literature

George Honiker is a motherless twelve-year-old who lives with his sister and her husband in a trailer park, and longs for the return of his enterprising, yet elusive father. When the town mill closes, George finds his trailer-home gone, and he is left with a note from his sister stating they left for a job, and that George should follow. Instead, George decides to stay at the home of a friend, Rennie Whitfield, the richest kid in the class. The easy, present tense narrative makes this short book a good pick for reluctant readers¾particularly those who enjoy Roos' popular Fear Street series¾but a more serious reader will not find this a challenging read. Some exposition early on gives the impression that there is an ecological story line¾a polluted river that pits environmentalists against millworkers. But there is little follow-through on that, and the story becomes a simple tale of rich vs. poor, in which kids will likely recognize the use of stereotypes. The exorbitantly wealthy Whitfields live in a mansion, refer to their butler as Jenkins and buy George a new wardrobe. The Whitfield father is off on safari, the mother riding horses, and the brusque and snobbish (yet warm-hearted) grandmother takes a special interest in George and wants to make him a fine young man. George, of course, decides to remain who he is, poor or not, and returns to trailer park life and to the continued hope that his father will return. 2002, Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing, $16.00. Ages 8 to 12. Reviewer: Jane Harrington