Belle Prater's Boy Analysis

Belle Prater's Boy is set in Coal Station, Virginia, a pretty little town where everything seems hunky dory all the time. In fact, when spring is in full bloom, it looks like a heavenly place to be...

The book is told from Gypsy's point of view, which is great since she's the main character. She leads readers through everything that happens to her over the course of the year after her cousin Woo...

Coming of Age At the end of Belle Prater's Boy, Woodrow makes a comment about how he and Gypsy are in an "in-between place" as they straddle the line separating childhood and adulthood. The book de...

Because the entirety of Belle Prater's Boy is told from Gypsy's perspective, the tone is that of a twelve-year-old girl who finds life pretty amusing and likes adding her own bits of commentary. Gy...

The writing style of Belle Prater's Boy is extremely straightforward. Gypsy is telling a story as though she's recounting it to a close friend, which means that the writing is simple, while all con...

The book starts out with a discussion about Belle Prater's disappearance, but the book isn't titled Belle Prater. Nope, it's called Belle Prater's Boy, because the true focus of the story is Woodro...

It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. —Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, The Little PrinceRuth White actually talks about why she chose this part...

Belle Prater's Boy doesn't end with Woodrow finally being reunited with his mother. In fact, at the very end, it's been a year since she left and he's still no closer to finding out where she went....

The language in Belle Prater's Boy is refreshingly simple and straightforward, with to-the-point descriptions and lots of realistic dialogue between the characters. Things never get too flowery or...

A Huge Mystery The book starts off in the middle of a huge mystery—Gypsy's Aunt Belle has gone missing without a trace, and no one knows where she is. We are introduced to Gypsy's family, which i...

Did you know that Coal Station isn't actually a real place? Ruth White took the name from coal trucks from all over the county that deliver coal to the railway station. (Source.)Ruth White didn't g...

There's not a lot of romance or sex going on in Belle Prater's Boy, which is just as well because the two main characters, Gypsy and Woodrow, are first cousins who have a lot of other things on the...

Rumi The Twenty-fifth Man by Ed MorrellLorna Doone by Richard Doddridge Blackmore Rear Window by Alfred Hitchcock