A Scout is Brave by Will Ludwigsen

 

Reviewed by Jeanne

It’s 1963, and the Castillo family has just moved from Queens, NY to a small backwater town in Massachusetts.  While most young teens would be upset at such a move, Bud Castillo is ready for it.  He doesn’t have a lot of friends, his dad has lost his job, and his mother is recovering from a miscarriage.  Bud is ready to move on, especially when his dad has just gotten a new job, one that will put his skills as a construction and demolition diver to good use, and the promise not only of good wages, but a place for the family to live.

Still, the town of Innsmouth is very different from any town Bud has ever seen.  There aren’t a lot of people and the ones he meets are a bit . . . odd.  There isn’t a school, the library is boarded up, and a lot of houses are empty. Then one day Bud slips into the library and discovers a boy just about his own age, Aubrey Marsh.  He’s the first kid Bud has seen, and he asks if there’s a Scout troop in town.  Aubrey doesn’t know what a Scout troop is, but he’s eager to learn and Bud is eager to teach him—even if they are the only two in the troop. Besides, scouting might give them both a chance to explore and maybe for Bud to discover what’s really going on in the town.

As I’ve said before, I occasionally like to pick up something a little creepy, something atmospheric rather than out and out horror.  This novella exceeded my expectations.  I can best describe it as Ray Bradbury meets H. P. Lovecraft.  It has Bradbury’s coming of age narrative, written from an adult’s perspective, remembering a pivotal time in his life, but surrounded by the mythology created by Lovecraft.

The writing is very evocative, and for me the story certainly delivered. There’s a very strong sense of place and time, just as in Something Wicked This Way Comes as well as a strong sense of innocence and decency.  Bud whole-heartedly believes in the Scout ideals and has tried to live them, and he finds a kindred spirit in Aubrey; but Bud is about to understand that not everyone else believes as he does.  This is also a story of friendship and innocence with an ending I found to be both melancholy and (perhaps oddly) sweet.

While I have read some Lovecraft, I am not particularly well-versed in that world but I didn’t have any trouble following the story. I very much enjoyed this book.   If you like Lovecraft and/or Bradbury, I think you will too.