A Little Too Rambunctious

LOCAL AUTHOR

Just at the cusp of summer vacation in 1968, Vis finds out that he has been assigned to Miss Salappa, the meanest fifth grade teacher, for the following school year. Fortunately, he’s not alone since his best bud Coolos has her, too. Regardless of Vis’s support, nothing stops Miss Salappa from making Vis’s life miserable, especially when she insists that he uses the word “mad” incorrectly. The seasons pass and make their way to the summer of 1969. Vis’s life fills with various personal and historic markers while he bides his time for the perfect moment when he can get back at his witch teacher.

Voorhees’s fictional memoir is reminiscent of Jean Shepherd’s In God We Trust: All Others Pay Cash—portions of which were adapted into the beloved film A Christmas Story. A collection of stories all leading up to one poignant moment, Voorhees’s baby-boomer plot captures the rambunctious machinations of a ten-year-old boy living in Seattle, Washington. Voorhees’s stories are short and very amusing. While Voorhees’s tales appear to be random at first, it becomes quite evident later in the book that the stories all have a way of tying in with the conflict Vis has with Miss Salappa.

Voorhees incorporates a variety of elements to keep his narrative clipping along at a steady pace. Probably the most outstanding feature is Voorhees’s cast design. Keeping to oddball names, the cast includes monikers such as Devoid, Mr. Cool (aka Coolos), and the Artist-in-Residence (Vis’s oldest brother). Odd spellings are another feature—the most prominent found in the several misspellings of Miss Salappa’s name.

Another element that offers substance to Voorhees’s snappy story line is the addition of references befitting that time period. Great examples include skeeball, pig piling in school during recess, and historical events such as NASA’s attempts to send astronauts to the moon. Replete with ongoing hilarious scenes, A Little Too Rambunctious is not only a perfect read for Baby Boomers, but it also has the potential of appealing to a wide audience.