Summary

"Written in Fox's sure, resonant prose, this follows Ned the minister's son, through the eight months after a secret disobedience: he fired a forbidden air rifle of a much loved uncle, and possibly--probably--hit something. Though Ned's 1935 home is a wonderful place (his mother, suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, is bedridden), Ned seems happy enough and forgets about the shot. Thereafter, haunted by his act, the eleven-year-old finds himself becoming evasive, and keeps being visited by memory and shame. He loses interest in things, turns down a trip with that favorite uncle and fights briefly with a friend." (Novelist Review)