Six out of Ten Beginning to Think Isn't Bad

I liked Meely LaBauve by Ken Wells. The obvious comparison is the one made on the back of the book calling Meely (Emile) the Cajun Huck Finn. And there are numerous parallels that make the story evocatively comforting: adventures on water, scraps with local constabularies, a first crush, truancy and absent parents. Wells also updates the story while showing things in the South are still festering with the same problems Twain depicted: racial tensions, poverty, dependency on the land.

Meely is small for his age and naive socially although quite grown-up in terms of being self-sufficient and moral. Wells portrays Meely's friends and neighbors a bit stereotypically, even the school room bullies are predictable. His depiction of the bayous and living off the food they provide are also standard. His best scenes are Meely's father going after the biggest alligator they have ever seen and Meely at the morgue.

I probably should read Huck Finn next to put Meely up against it picaresque element to element. Meely's story lacks a focused quest and therefore ultimate enlightenment. Normal or slightly dangerous boyhood growing up experiences are not enough for me to tag a novel picaresque.