The 79 Squares

by Malcolm J. Bosse and Malcolm Bosse

Book Overview

A friendship found in the unlikeliest of places... When fourteen-year-old Eric and his gang are caught trespassing in a stranger's garden, he has no idea that his life is about to change forever. On... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0690039999
• ISBN13: 9780690039993
• Release Date: January 1980
• Publisher: Crowell
• Length: 185 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Age Range: 12 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 7 and higher

Customer Reviews

Slow Down & Look

In observing nature, 1 square at a time, the main character of this story comes to understand himself & the world around him with greater maturity, but the project isn't his idea--it's an old man's punishment, levied for trespassing. The mysterious draw of the boy to the man, to the 79 squares laid out for him to observe is also the mysterious draw of the book. This is one of the books that sticks with you. I read it as a middle school student at my great-grandmother's house, and the tedium of the book, the slow kind of quiet of the house, the seeming slowness of life itself at that age threatened to be too much--I almost gave up. But I had a book report due, & I'd waited till the last minute, so I pushed forward & met my first encounter with the rewards of fortitude. You do have to slow down to enjoy The 79 Squares, but if you'll let it, the book will teach you how. It will help you to see the invisible world of the miniscule & the mundane, & it will open your eyes to the mystery & magic of that world.

Thought-provoking and wonderful!

I loved this book! It really makes you think about how the world works: not only in nature, but also in human society. Who really has knowledge? Read this book to find out. It has given me a much broader perspective on the world.