Robbie Branscum (1937–1997)

Month of January 2022: Young Reader’s Classics

NOT IN THE ACCELERATED READING PROGRAM
(For about middle school ages 13 and up…boys especially will enjoy) Gave to my Hodge grandsons.

NOTE: A 1971 hard to find rare collectible. I paid $28.00 for my used paperback published in 1975.

How is it possible that a 7th grade dropout could write such a cute and funny story with the perfect amount of adventure and mystery…and naughtiness that you would expect from a couple of boys just coming of age. The author incorporates a lot of Southern slang talk, and she does it perfectly. She grew up with three brothers and says Sammy John and Jim Luke portray her brothers who acted just like them.

Sammy John had to go and live with his grandparents in the hills of Arkansas while his mom went looking for work. His grandparents had a child late in life, Jim Luke, Sammy’s uncle, who was only two years older than Sammy John.

The boys were out coon hunting one night when Sammy John passes near a hollowed out tree and a dead hand falls out of it and seemingly grabs him by the shoulder. After he wet his pants and was paralyzed with fear, Jim Luke rescued him and the boys took off running. They ran until a safe distance away and sat and had a chew to discuss this dead body.

Jim Luke convinced Sammy John into an investigation to find the murderer because there “might” be a reward. Jim Luke had his eye on a particular shotgun in a magazine that he wanted really, really bad. And a money reward might bring Sammy John’s mom home.

The boys find themselves in danger of their lives when the investigation leads them toward activities of the local Ku Klux Klan and people they know, but specifically to one close family member they would have to betray.

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Let me say this was one hard book to find to purchase. For whatever reason, it is very elusive. I would consider it a rare collectible. My local library doesn’t own a copy. I searched everywhere online and finally lucked out and found an old used paperback for $28 [that’s right…TWENTY-EIGHT DOLLARS] online at Thriftbooks.com. It’s not even a 1st edition. Mine was published in 1975. The FIRST EDITIONS, published in 1971, are running anywhere from $200 to over $500….UNBELIEVABLE!

My husband actually read this when he was about 13 or 14 years old. One of the first books he remembers reading. His friend was cracking up over it, so this made him want to read it more. Well, now I own a copy to hand down to one of our grandkids.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Robbie Tilley Branscum was born to a poor farming family in Big Flat, Arkansas. She was four years old when her father died and was sent to live with her grandparents, also very poor farmers. Robbie quit school in the seventh grade and was first married in 1949 at age 15, had a baby girl, and divorced by age 25. She was a farm worker and part-time writer, supporting herself. She remarried in 1974 but was again divorced two years later.

With only a SEVENTH GRADE education, she published 20 children’s literature and young adult fiction, this book, “Me and Jim Luke“ (1971), being her first book, and she has even won notable awards: Edgar Award, Friends of American Writers Award and PEN award. Her last book, “Never Pa’s Girl”, was published in 1991. Amazing accomplishments!

Robbie died of a heart attack at her home in San Pablo, California, age 62, in 1997. She is buried at Oakview Memorial Park in Antioch, California. Can’t help myself. This is the genealogist in me…… (mais)