First Boy

Written by Gary D. Schmidt

Narrated by Jesse Bernstein

Mr. Heavy Legs walked past Cooper and got into the jeep. He turned on the ignition and backed up to Cooper. He handed him a card with a single phone number on it. “I’m not forcing you to come, kid. Not yet. But things are going to start happening fast. Very fast. Call if you want me. And one thing more: Next time I see you, I won’t be asking you to come.”
“Do you know what happened to my father?”
“Of course I do,” said Mr. Heavy Legs.
Then he drove away.

“You’re my first boy, Cooper, my first boy,” his grandfather tells him just before he dies. Now, fourteen-year-old Cooper Jewett has no one, not even a dog to keep him company. The only thing that keeps him going is looking after the dairy farm.
All of a sudden, strange and inexplicable things begin to happen. Big men in suits with black sedans are all over Cooper’s small New Hampshire town. The President of the United States invites Cooper for a chat at her headquarters. Her opponent insists that Cooper join him on his campaign. Cooper’s house is searched at night, and his barn is burned down. His neighbors, even the sheriff, are behaving strangely. Why?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
• Release date: Oct 11, 2005
• ISBN: 9780307282873

Gary D. Schmidt

Gary D. Schmidt is the bestselling author of The Labors of Hercules Beal; Just Like That; National Book Award finalist Okay for Now; Pay Attention, Carter Jones; Orbiting Jupiter; the Newbery Honor and Printz Honor Book Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy; and the Newbery Honor Book The Wednesday Wars. He lives in rural Michigan.

Reviews for First Boy

[cpotter_8 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Cooper's grandfather dies leaving him alone in the world. Cooper is determined to keep his families dairy farm going even if he has to do so by himself. Mysterious black cars are seen about town and then damage begins to happen around Cooper's farm. Cooper finds himself involved in a political struggle as he discovers who his parents really are and the meaning of family.
6-8 grades
no language problems

[bsu_15 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Cooper lives with his grandfather on a small dairy farm in New Hampshire. After his grandfather's death, Cooper has to figure out how to run the farm and cope with the powerful strangers who are asking about his parents