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Updated November 19, 2003
Belle Prater's Boy, by Ruth White (Junior/Young Adult)Belle Prater was a talented, imaginative, attractive woman who lived in Coal Station Virginia. Hers should have been a happy and fulfilling life. However she was the sister of Lovey, a stunning beauty. Belle lived her whole life in Lovey’s shadow. When Lovey attracts the only man Belle loved she impulsively runs off and marries the first man who pays any attention to her. She has lived her life in the mountains with her husband and son, Woodrow.
One morning Belle disappears, and no trace is found of her. Woodrow is sent to live with his grandparents in town, next door to his cousin Gypsy. Gypsy is Lovey’s daughter, and a beauty in her own right. She immediately befriends Woodrow who turns out to be a magnificent storyteller.
Gypsy too has had a tragedy in her life. Her father died when she was five. Her mother’s remarriage is a source of friction between Gypsy and her stepfather, Porter. Gypsy is also haunted by a strange nightmare filled with blood and the death of a faceless animal. The children are drawn together by the absence of a loved parent.