“The Zulu word for ‘hello’ is sawubona. It literally means ‘I see you.’ Wouldn’t it be good if, every time we came in contact with other human beings made in God’s image, the first thing we announced and intended was to see them? That sounds like something from the Kingdom of God.” – Author’s Note, The Found Boys by S. D. Smith
My children do not know what the Ku Klux Klan is. They are 17, 15, and 13. I am both mortified by that and grateful at the same time. I thank God that stories of the Klan are less prevalent today than they once were. But I know that doesn’t mean that fallen man is any less fallen today than he was when such stories were commonplace. Have you taught your children about the Klan? When did you tell them that horror story? How did you do it? When is the right time to tell children in this fallen world about nightmares they don’t already have?
“I am so happy to share this story with you. My intention is to give you a gift, to love and serve you with a delightful, moving, inspiring, and soul-shaping adventure. The Found Boys is not really a story about race, but a story about people, and it involves race. I think it’s a hopeful, humorous tale you’ll enjoy.” – Author’s Note, The Found Boys by S. D. Smith
It is, Sam. It is all of those things. And I thank you for giving me the perfect story to invite my children into a very hard and very nuanced conversation about the complexity of men, the poison of hatred, the true love of friendship, and the Kingdom-call to love and forgive even when anger and hurt are gripping our hearts.
“Mom always said we should pray for Willie. I didn’t feel good about that, but I did it anyway ‘cause it says in the Bible to love your neighbor and your enemies too, which is weird. Dad said Reverend Jones said that lots of his neighbors were his enemies, so he just prayed for everyone and got a two-for-one deal on lots of ‘em.”
The Found Boys by S. D. Smith is an exciting and interesting story about ordinary boys growing up in two churches on either side of the river in 1980s West Virginia. Scott and Tommy are white boys from Valley Baptist Church who like to jump off of swings, shoot hoops, run along the shoreline, and chase after adventure. Dooley is a black kid from Mt. Zion Baptist church who likes to do pretty much the same things. When the boys agree not to fight over their differences but instead join together on a mission to steal something from the junkyard, they get a lot more than they bargained for.
I was truly impressed with how deftly Sam was able to develop multiple characters at the same time so we get to see how the Body of Christ works best when it works together. There is an honesty to his writing that lets us see that no one is just one-dimensional. And that most real human things are complicated. Even the forgiveness of Christ, which is the simplest thing in the world, is usually won by a hard and complex journey.
In an interview we did with Margi McAllister about Mistmantle, we talked about the tough topics in her stories. It is always her intention not to scar or wound our young people, but to stretch them, leaving growth rings like you might find in a tree. When we interviewed Gary D. Schmidt, we thanked him for writing his stories such that our children could go into hard places with his characters, but that he never leaves them there. He always sends good and trustworthy adults in to help them grow through the pain and come out on the other side a different and better person.
I have loved S. D. Smith’s books since I discovered them almost ten years ago. Underneath the exciting adventure of Picket and Smalls, Heather and Helmer, and that marvelous character of Jo Shanks, there is a heart for the Mended Wood that makes every adventure, every friendship, every character genuinely real to me and the many children I have the privilege of sharing the rabbit books with. When we met Jack Zulu, Benny, and Michelle, I was delighted to see Sam’s West Virginia leap off the page, and I enjoyed heading back into my own childhood in the 1980s. In the newest Jack Zulu book, I think Sam did some of his most meaningful writing through the voice of Michelle’s father. Not only his thoughts about manhood and responsibility, but also the way in which he was modeling for Jack (and our readers) how to become an honorable man. I cannot wait to see how the Jack Zulu stories unfold.
“Valley Baptist and Mt. Zion Baptist held their second joint service that night even though it was a Tuesday. All the black and white people from both churches were joined hand in hand, surrounding the house. I was afraid at first, but soon enough we were singing hymns together and I grew bolder inside. By the time the Klan showed up it felt like we were part of God’s army and the angels were all around us with a mighty host.”
I mention these stories because I think that what we get in The Found Boys is a mature, hardy, and heartfelt story that draws on the foundations Sam has laid in the other stories. The Mended Wood of The Green Ember is more than just an idea in The Found Boys – it is not just something to hope for, but something to be chosen and lived in every encounter we have with another. It is the choice to forgive a man who has terrorized your family. It is the choice to join together with people you do not know and who might make you a bit nervous. It is the choice to look hatred in the eye and call it out for what it is. It is the choice to humble yourself and seek the good of the other instead of your own ego.
“He’s in the Klan,” Dooley said. “They burn crosses in our yards and wear white costumes and ride around doing all kinds of stuff against blacks.”
“They burn a cross?”
“Yep,” he replied.
“Welp, that’s pretty much a dead giveaway for whose side they’re on.”
The Found Boys, with its humor, big heart, and graceful handling of race issues is an absolute must-read. Scott and Tommy have a delightful and appropriate innocence to them which is tested but protected in this story. Dooley has wholesome and graceful maturity about him that makes him wise, courageous, and completely lovable. Each of Scott and Dooley’s parents is marvelous – loving, prudent, and principled.
“There was peace between us. I was like Dooley – like the Jones family. I was for forgiveness. There has to be a way for people to come back after being wrong and bad, and the Joneses were the kind of people who liked to open those roads.”
I intend to recommend this to my library families to be done as a family read-aloud. There is one scary scene in which one of the boys is being attacked by dogs. The scene is short and no serious harm comes to him, but young children may be scared if reading it by themselves.
The illustration in this story is really great and gives us a better understanding of the setting. I found myself really studying the pictures of the boys and what was happening.
I think this story is important, well-told, and would be extremely helpful to families in the discussion of racism, sin, forgiveness, and the historical reality of the Ku Klux Klan.