Swap and Other Stories [Hardcover]

I bought this book for my grandson - who had already enjoyed "The Fib" by the same author. He isn't really a bookish boy - preferring a game of football any day - but these stories really appealed to his sense of humour. and encouraged his reading.

The Pigeon by George Layton

This story begins with the main character in a Latin lesson with Mr Bleasedale ... the teacher with the glass eye. That particular day, a note was being passed around; Arthur Boocock wrote it. The main character thought that it was one of the games that they normally play in Mr Bleasedale's lessons; passing around anything from somebody's cap or even a dead mouse that Norbert Lightowler had found by the Mucky Beck. The main character was forbidden by his mother as well as his Auntie Doreen to go there. But when the note got to him, he saw the following:
Meeting:
Smokers Corner
Dinnerbreak

DON'T TELL THE PIGEON!

Pass it on.

At Dinnerbreak, he meets William Rothman (aka: The Pigeon), on his way to Smokers Corner. William was only new, but, as he was an intelligent boy, he knew that the note, along with the meeting, was about him, since the note hadn't been passed to him. He asked the main character those questions, but the main character just shrugged as well as making noises like: err... ummm. Finally, the main character lied and replied, "I don't know!" as an extra excuse.

Arthur Boocock tried to make an excuse that the Pigeon is German; because William's mum talks funny. The pigeon overheard what they were saying, so he paced up to Arthur to clarify that he wasn't German, plus his dad fought against the Nazi's. Arthur then dramatically changed his reason to hate the Pigeon to the fact that the Pigeon practiced Judaism, so he assumed that the Pigeon killed Jesus, as he was told that the Jews killed Jesus. The narrator stood up to Arthur, then told him that it wasn't the Pigeon's fault for the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. For that, he got beaten up. They all ignored the Pigeon, but it seemed that William was ignoring them!

In the next scene, the narrator talked about his job working as a grocery deliverer. One day, he noticed that one of the deliveries was for William's family, and he felt extremely sluggish. He didn't want to go there because he thought that he would get seriously told off for bullying William. But to his surprise, when he got there, William's parents were very pleasant to him. William told him in secret, that he hadn't told his parents he was being bullied by them, but told them that everyone was very pleasant to him. The narrator felt so guilty, that when he left, he threw the shilling they gave him into the reservoir on the hill.

I found the part when the narrator was in church funny, when he was explaining to the readers that he often prays for a particular meal including roast potatoes the way his mum cooks them, but that particular day, he prayed that he wouldn't be such a coward so that he would have the courage to become friends with William, and that Arthur be bullied. I also enjoyed it when the narrator, along with the others, ignored William, but instead of William complaining that everyone was ignoring him, he ignored them too!

I think that most people would also take pleasure in the parts I liked as well as the ending (I will not give away the ending. Read the story to find out the ending...). It is a very amusing story, plus it is interesting to try and detect who is the narrator.

Hopefully, this review has persuaded you to read this story by George Layton. You can find this story in the book, The Swap and other stories by George Layton.