Although Arly Poole seems bound to follow in his father's footsteps as a field worker in Jailtown, Florida, where his family lives in 1927 in the shadow of a cruel boss, his world suddenly seems larger when a schoolteacher comes to town. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

In 1927, Jailtown, Fla., is not the best place for an 11-year-old. Arly Poole, the son of a cucumber picker who looks ``like he lost every fight in his life . . . and never knowed shade.'' has little to look forward to. When Arly reaches working age, he too will be a virtual slave to the owner of Jailtown. Then President Calvin Coolidge's Rural Education Act brings a schoolteacher to Jailtown. Miss Binnie Hoe rescues Arly (she calls herself her students' ``ticket'' out of the cycle of the town's poverty), but this is no sugar-coated tale: Arly's father dies, and a girl Arly tries to help ends up going to work at the local house of ill repute. Peck pungently combines earthy dialect, good storytelling and an authentic locale. Arly's life in Jailtown will linger in readers' memories for a long time. Ages 10-up. (Apr.) From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Robert Newton Peck was born in Vermont on February 17, 1928. The son of hardworking rural people, he was raised on a farm and worked as a lumberjack, in a papermill, killing hogs, and as an advertising executive before the publication of his first book in 1973. He also served as a machine-gunner in the U.S. Army 88th Infantry Division between 1945 and 1947. He received a B.A. degree from Rollins College in Winter Park, Florida, in 1953, and studied law at Cornell University.

A prolific writer of fiction for young people (Peck has written fifteen books in the last ten years), his work is rooted in the rural tradition of his boyhood. His first book, A Day No Pigs Would Die was named an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults in 1973. Soup and Me, his next book, was made into an ABC After School Special. Soup on Ice was honored with the Child Study Association of America children's book of the year citation in 1987. This book also received the Michigan Council of Teachers in 1984.

Peck's book A Day No Pigs Would Die, has been banned by many libraries and schools because of its passage on pig breeding. Yet, despite the controversy the New York Times reported in 1998 that libraries everywhere are featuring special programs and exhibitions calling attention to the banning of books as a threat to freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Peck directs the annual Writers Conference at Rollins College.

(Bowker Author Biography) Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.