Soup by Robert Newton Peck

“Soup” is a story about two young boys, Soup and Rob. They are in the third grade. They live in a small town in Vermont. Soup is a boy that gets into trouble a lot. He makes up creative ways to occupy their time. They whip apples, roll in barrels, and tie their family to trees. The stories are told from Rob’s point of view. He is always going along with Soup’s plans. Rob also has creative ideas, but is more sensative than Soup. Rob is the concience of the pair, often warning Soup of the trouble they will be in if caught. In the end, he always agrees to do what Soup wants.
The story begins with Rob in trouble for talking back to his teacher. He tries to talk his way out of a beating by his mother. His arguement was good, but not good enough to get him out of trouble. Then Soup and Rob decide to have a contest to see who could whip apples farthest. The target is the church roof. Rob tells him not to do it, but Soup tries anyway and breaks a church window. He leaves Rob alone to deal the lady working at the church. Rob then asks his aunt to tie her to a tree, she does not think he can tie her tight enough she cannot get free. But Rob ties her tight and leaves her in a thunderstorm tied to a tree. There are many more chapters with funny stories.
I liked this book a lot. It is very funny and entertaining. The stories take place a long time ago – shoes cost $3 and the movies only 10 cents. It is fun to look at how kids may have spent their time before TV and video games and computers.

Alexandra