When Zachary Beaver Came to Town

“Nothing ever happens in Antler, Texas. Nothing much at all.” And so go the first two lines of a novel that I’ve shared both feelings of endearing love and loathsome hate with. Let’s be honest, as children it was a rare thing to find ourselves sitting down with a quality book and devoting any significant amount of time to discovering what its words and theme could mean for our own lives. No, we were more preoccupied with the thoughts of global warming (sorry, climate change), stripping naked for PETA posters, and “livin’ la vida loca”, as we were so often told to do by the always respected artist, Ricky Martin. So, like any normal child of 12, I distanced myself from things that weren't as beneficial as these. That’s why, when I first encountered Kimberly Willis Holt’s novel, When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, I absolutely despised it for reasons that are two-fold.

First, the book title contained my name and was actually spelled right. When we were forced to read this work for my seventh grade English class, there was no shortage of obvious statements such as, “Hey Zach, this book has your name on it!”  To which I always replied, “Hey [insert generic kid’s name], no s***!” pronouncing each asterisk perfectly.

Secondly, it’s a National Book Award-winning children’s novel, so that obviously means every child must enjoy this book because it won an award, right? Well, I never finished it in seventh grade and to be honest, it remained in a state of dormancy until this past summer, when I decided to evict the spiders and cobwebs which had taken up residency on it and began reading it again. This was one of the best decisions of my life.

It’s a coming of age story about a thirteen-year-old boy, Toby Wilson, who lives in Antler, Texas. It’s your archetypal western small town, where everyone knows everyone, and your best friend lives next to you, and there’s a crazy old man who sells you snow cones down the road. One day a traveling side-show attraction visits this insipid town and that’s when Toby and his best friend, Cal, discover the fattest boy in the world, Zachary Beaver. Enamored with the sheer size of the boy, the two friends continue to return and visit with him despite Zachary’s obvious distaste towards people and the cornucopia of lies he constructs about his world travels. When Toby discovers a Bible in Zachary’s trailer and notices that the baptism section isn't filled out, Toby forms a plan to do just that, baptize a 300+ pound boy.

This work is told from the first person point of view of Toby, which lends itself to pull any emotional string it wants. In turn, that’s what makes it such a captivating and warm book to read, despite moments of complete loss and heartbreak. An example of this would be Toby’s own home life. From the opening chapter we discover that Toby’s mom has left for Nashville, Tennessee in order to peruse her dream of becoming a country music star. The last memory Toby has of her was a fight between her and his dad in the kitchen, ending with his dad storming out of the room. As the story progresses we learn that this fissure in the family will never be repaired as his mom intends on staying in Nashville for good, thus meaning a divorce is surely to come. What ensues next is a strain between him and his dad as Toby attempts to distance himself from his family while his dad tries to understand his son’s pain.

Making its home in both light-hearted humor and soul-wrenching drama, When Zachary Beaver Came to Town will journey its way through your emotions in eloquent style. It’s a relatively quick read and I honestly recommend it for the upcoming holiday season being that it makes one thankful for what they have, even if you live in a small town where nothing ever happens.

-- Zach