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Here is a romp for smart, pre-teen boys with a twinkle in their eyes and harmless, well-planned pranks in their hearts. ** Old Man Hanson is a recluse, but his orchard has some of the best apples around, and he protects them mightily from the neighborhood five who never tire of trying to steal someeven though their attempts are doomed to failure. Getting the apples becomes a duel of wits and... More

Here is a romp for smart, pre-teen boys with a twinkle in their eyes and harmless, well-planned pranks in their hearts. ** Old Man Hanson is a recluse, but his orchard has some of the best apples around, and he protects them mightily from the neighborhood five who never tire of trying to steal someeven though their attempts are doomed to failure. Getting the apples becomes a duel of wits and the boys form the GOH (Get Old Man Hanson) Club. Plots and counterplots, pranks and counter-pranks propel the humorous story. When Old Man Hanson dies, curiosity leads the storyteller, Sam, and his buddy, Bill, into Hansons house. ** In the midst of their snooping they experience Hansons best prankthey are trapped and must use their wits to escape within a specified time. They do escape, and the reader roars at the mental hijinks they go through.

Later, at the reading of Hansons will, his final pranks motivation becomes clear. He was a genius, a rich and lonely man, with only a short time to live. The boys added fun to his last years. The tricks they played were harmless, thought-provoking and humorous, and at no time malicious. To thank them, he bequeaths to them his orchards as a business, his small but fine, personal library, and college tuition for certain studies. To benefit the community and the children, the orchard business is to be self-perpetuating, for as each child turns 18 another neighborhood child is to be chosen by the new adult as his replacement. **

Respect for mental agility bridges the age differential. While enjoying the pranking youngsters problem-solving abilities, Hanson planned to nurture those abilities for their future happiness and for the happiness of other children like them. When they matured, each group of youngsters would respect Hansons genius and purpose and carry it on for the next wave of young, creative thinkers.

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