Russell Hoban

"A hero with Huck Finn's heart and charm, lighting by El Greco and jokes by Punch and Judy. . . . Riddley Walker is haunting and fiercely imagined and—this matters most—intensely ponderable." —Benjamin DeMott, The New York Times Book Review

"This is what literature is meant to be." —Anthony Burgess

"Russell Hoban has brought off an extraordinary feat of imagination and style. . . . The conviction and consistency

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As her little sister Gloria's birthday approaches, Frances wavers between being generous--and being jealous.

When Albert and his buddies have a "no girls" baseball game, Frances and her sister organize a "Best Friends Outing -- No Boys."

In Frogtown Hollow, live Emmet and Ma Otter: a family with little money, but lots of love. With Christmas coming, they want very much to buy each other a store-bought gift - but are barely scraping by doing odd jobs. When a local talent contest offers a special prize, Emmet must make a sacrifice to join his Jug-band for the competition. Will the Jug-band prevail or will fierce competition from the Riverbottom Gang steal the show - and the prize?