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Big Man and the Burn-Out(Ages 14 up)—Houghton, 1985 A sensitive story for younger teens... a story of coming of age, of friendship, and of nurturing. Deals peripherally with emerging sexual identities. An ambitious book, involving, satisfying. Booklist A gem of a book that is incandescent and fragile with its loving, caring people who are unable to express their emotions. The characters are full of pain and so memorable that the novel begs to be read aloud and cherished. There is so much here to savor: the hypocritical church-goers... the bullying peers... the gay teacher... the loving grandmother... Voice of Youth Advocates ...a unique young adult account which departs from traditional formula to offer a realistic protagonist, insights on rural life, and a mixture of issues... an engrossing read filled with insights and surprising twists and turns. Midwest Book Review Placed on the Sequoyah Young Adult Book Masterlist by the Oklahoma Library Association and given favorable reviews by several midwest journals, Big Man and the Burn-Out was a hit with rural kids since it is so vivid in its depiction of life on a farm. The book jacket, however... I can’t remember ever having seen a book jacket criticized in a book review... except for this one for Big Man and the Burn-Out created by Linda Crockett. It was referred to in one review as “hideous” and in another as “uninviting”. I’m sorry to say I agree. It’s far too busy, far too muddy, and worse, inexact. It was a great disappointment to me at the time, although I have to say it doesn’t look too bad here in miniature, particularly the back of the book jacket below. I understand why publishers keep the author from communicating with the artist, so as to protect the artist’s work, but here is a clear case of where the artist would have benefitted by talking with the author, if for no other reason than to get the facts of the story straight (see below). 
The back of the book jacket is cleaner and more pleasing to the eye. Meechum looks too old for a 14 or 15 year old, and his half brother looks too healthy for the kid being overcome by sickle cell anemia. The Frankenstein Tree could have been a much more colorful creation than drawn here. And where is Molly Pierce, a major character in this story? Oh, sigh.
Big Man and the Burn-Out was nominated for the Sequoia Award. Many of my characters reappear in other books and plays at other ages. To see Jess, Molly and Meechum as they appear in 11th grade, see the book jacket for The Mayday Rampage.
Copyright © 2004 Robert Locke |