First Boy

Gary Schmidt's First Boy fast-paced political thriller will have the reader turning the pages in anticipation of the next clue.

"You're my first boy, Cooper, my first boy," grandfather says just before he dies. All alone in the world, without even a dog, the only thing that keeps Cooper going is running the dairy farm.

Suddenly, black sedans are swarming all around Cooper's small New Hampshire town, driven by mysterious men in dark suits. Cooper's barn is burned to the ground, and his house is broken into and searched during the night. The President of the United States calls on Cooper for a visit, and her opponent wants Cooper to join him on the campaign trail.

Who exactly is Cooper Jewett, and what does the government want with him?


About the Author

Gary Schmidt does not live in New Hampshire. He does, however, live on a farm--with his wife, Anne, six children, too many cats, and not enough dogs. He teaches writing at Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and he writes his novels on a 1953 Royal manual typewriter in a barn. His novel Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy was both a Newbery Honor Book and a Printz Honor Book. He is also the author of Mara's Stories and The Wonders of Donal O'Donnell.