THE PAPER COWBOY

Narrator Lincoln Hoppe is the voice of 12-year-old Tommy, who is growing up in a small Midwestern town during the height of McCarthyism and the Red Scare. Tommy sees himself as a cowboy. His parents view him as a disappointment. Teachers perceive him as a polite, nice-looking, smart student. His classmates, however, know him as the bully he is. Hoppe uses a steady, unembellished delivery to get inside the head of this complex boy, letting us see that the bully is often as injured as his victims. The story--although burdened with preachiness and too many issues wrapped up too neatly--is compelling as Tommy develops awareness and responsibility for his actions, finding ways to atone while bringing his community together. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine [Published: FEBRUARY 2015]