Margaret Standafer

I Know An Old Lady by Margaret Standafer is a coming-of-age story that covers the summer of 1972. Billy Tupper is sixteen and angry that due to his carelessness the judge has sentenced him to a summer of working for Old Lady Baxter. He is bitter about many things in his life but mostly for the death of his mother when he was twelve. Now he has to give up his summer to work for Mrs. Baxter, she who is rumored to be a child killer. He decides to take advantage of being on her farm to really look around and search for clues to her guilt.

As Billy works through the long hot summer days of mowing lawns, weeding the garden and painting the large farm house, things begin to slowly change. Instead of evidence of her guilt, Billy grows closer to the old lady and actually learns some very important life lessons. Meanwhile his father who has been painfully absent these last few years seems to have realized that Billy needs a father and is trying to be that for him.

I Know An Old Lady was a touching story that perhaps tied everything together too neatly but I did enjoy reading about Billy and his life in the small Kansas town. As this is a YA story, I was able to accept the neat ending although I do know that real life is seldom that simple. I found the book to be a relaxing, light read that left me with a smile on my face.… (más)