Paperboy, Vince Vawter. This truly delightful Newbery Honor book about Victor Vollmer, III, is a treasure. A stutterer that uses as few words as possible is an unforgettable character. He is in charge of his best friend, Rat's, paper route for the month of June while he is away. He fears asking for his weekly collections and must think of words that start with less painful letters to ask for payment. However, he learns that adults, unlike kids, are not so cruel and he has favorite patrons that he hopes to see each week: Mrs. Worthington, the prettiest, but maybe the loneliest woman he has ever met, Mr. Spiro who tells him stories and gives him part of a dollar each week with a new word written on it, and TV boy, who comes to be an unlikely friend.

This story takes place in Memphis, during the time of civil unrest. Although that is not the focus of the book, his colored Mam takes care of him and she is his protector and his defender. She warns him to stay away from Ara T, the local shopping cart wielding thief. Mam has a past with him, and she shows her tigress when Victor's prized possessions and stash of newspaper money are stolen from his own room. She knows exactly who stole it and she sets out to make it better.

This is a new favorite story. The author, a stutterer himself, wrote a beautiful book worth reading.