VINCE VAWTER AT NOVEL: MANBOY
Join us as we welcome VINCE VAWTER on SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10 at 2:00 pm to celebrate his new book MANBOY.
ABOUT THE BOOK:
Victor Vollmer, introduced to readers in Paperboy and Copyboy, is 21 years old now and has been waiting for three years to reunite with Philomene Moreau, the South Louisiana free spirit who saved him from drowning in the Mississippi River. Soon after Phil arrives in Memphis, Vic’s meticulously planned weekend comes crashing down as a world event unfolds.
Vic, still dealing with his worrisome stutter, and, Phil, needing badly to share her secret, grapple with the tumult paralyzing the city. Aiding in their desperate search to find solace is a wise soul from Vic’s past.
Manboy is a work of historical fiction set against the actual newspaper headlines of a weekend in April 1968 that changed the world.
Vince Vawter, a 40-year newspaper veteran, was awarded a prestigious Newbery Honor in 2014 for his first novel, Paperboy. The sequel, Copyboy, was a Junior Library Guild selection. Manboy completes the trilogy and is suitable for all ages.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Vince Vawter, a retired newspaper editor and publisher, is the author of the popular Paperboy Trilogy — Paperboy, Copyboy, Manboy.
Paperboy, a 2014 Newbery Honor book published by Penguin Random House, tells the story of an 11-year-boy who must take on his best friend’s newspaper route for a month even though he knows he will have trouble because of his worrisome stutter.
Set in Memphis in 1959, Paperboy deals not only with the everyday challenges of stuttering but also with growing up in the segregated South. A majority of the story is based on Vawter’s childhood experiences. Since the book’s publication, Vawter has spoken at more than 200 schools and conferences in 24 states.
A sequel to the book, Copyboy, was published in 2018 by Capstone Editions. The story follows the 17-year-old protagonist in 1965 on a mandated trip to find the mouth of the Mississippi River where he is rescued by a free-spirited South Louisiana woman and attempts to outrun a deadly hurricane.
Manboy, independently published in 2023, reunites characters from the first two books. The story is set in Memphis in April 1968 when a world event shakes the city, placing the 21-year-old protagonist in the middle of the tumult as he continues his stuttering journey.
Paperboy has sold more than a quarter-million copies and has been translated into 17 languages. The Manhattan School of Music premiered a musical adapted from the book on March 24-26, 2023, in New York.
Vawter retired after a 40-year career in newspapers, most recently as the publisher and president of the Evansville (Ind.) Courier & Press. He previously served as managing editor of The Knoxville News Sentinel from 1988 to 1995 and news editor of the Memphis Press-Scimitar.
He lives with his wife of 50 years in Louisville, Tenn., on a small farm.
