The Pact

by Walter J. Roers
PRMS paperback 180 pages
genre: realistic historical fiction

I can't believe it took me so long to read this book! Erica uses it with our 8th grade LAX kids. It reads like a memoir - detailed, painfully real, relationships and events recounted so powerfully. I was sobbing by the end, even though I knew from reading students' assignments what happened. Michael is an average Minnesota kid growing up in the 1940s. His older brother Ron is always coming up with schemes for them to try. His baby sister Katy often needs comforting or watching. The new kid, Ricky, soon becomes his best friend. But his dad's drinking and rage dominates their lives even more than their mother's love. Powerful book! The power and pain of secrets runs strong in this first novel.

Here's another "draft" that I started many months ago . . . and I'm not sure why I didn't publish it. We had Roers come to visit last spring. Erica Penn's students had read The Pact. It was very interesting to visit with him and hear about his experiences growing up and how they shaped this book.