The first time Harlan Q meets his grandfather, the old man is lying cold on a table at the Hamilton-Johnston funeral home. The Hamiltons have allowed Harlan Q to live with them for the summer, which is great: He finds funeral work easier than living at h Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Hemphill borrows themes from Flannery O'Connor's Wise Blood and a plot point from As I Lay Dying in this impressive debut, set in July 1972. After a rift with his preacher father, 14-year-old narrator Harlan Q Stank apprentices with a local mortician. The boy's first meets his grandfather (Harlan O, just back in their north Texas town after a 20-year estrangement from his son, Harlan P) in his employer's basement. Grandfather, having suffered a fatal heart attack at a nearby motel, lies smiling on the cooling table. After learning that an inheritance of $50,000 and an Eldorado convertible await provided that the body arrives back in Sin City for burial Harlan Q talks Paps into driving Grandfather back the cash inheritance to be cleansed by funding The Sunnyside Savior Church Radio Hour. A road trip in the church station wagon ensues, with Grandfather casketed and crated inside. A flat tire leads to an addition, handsome 19-year-old Warrior (aka Warren Ducklo), actor wannabe, dabbler in alternative religions and an estranged "PK" (preacher's kid) himself. Warrior and Paps's unceasing religious haranguing, while driving Harlan Q nuts, underscores his own painful, even panic-stricken quest to tear himself from his father's wrathful grasp. Laugh-out-loud scenes, a marvelous narrative voice, period details and appealingly quirky characterization outweigh the too-tidy ending, making Hemphill a writer to watch. Ages 13-up. (May) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr 6-9 Harlan Q, 14, lives and works with the local funeral director and his wife because his evangelical preacher father, Harlan P, has evicted him for religious doubts. There he meets his grandfather, Harlan O, for the first time. The fact that the man is dead doesn't stop him from wanting to know more about his relative. The teen convinces his father to drive the body to Las Vegas to collect an inheritance, and thus the two have the opportunity to develop a relationship and learn something about the man who has been lost to them for 20 years. The premise is interesting, but not much happens as the two travel, have car troubles, take on an aspiring actor who is more interesting than either Harlan, and find themselves in a city that fascinates the younger Harlan as much as it horrifies the elder. The characters are not fully developed except for the former and some barely seem to have a face or voice, like his mother. As Harlan Q learns about his grandfather through the people who knew and loved him, he discovers a compassionate and intelligent man, but Harlan P never does accept him. Harlan Q knows a bit more about his father at story's end, but it's not clear what lessons are learned by either of them as they begin their ride home together. Susan Oliver, Tampa-Hillsborough Public Library System, FL Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr. 8-11. To escape his father, a fire-and-brimstone preacher, 14-year-old Harlan takes a live-in apprenticeship at a local funeral parlor. Then his grandfather, whom Harlan has never met, dies, and the body, prepared by Harlan's boss, must be shipped back to Las Vegas. Harlan miraculously convinces his father to drive from their small southern town to the sinful city to collect their inheritance and deliver the body. An aspiring young actor hitches a ride, and his Buddhist-influenced observations help move Harlan and his father toward mutual understanding. In her strong debut, set during the late 1960s (or early 1970s), Hemphill strikes a confident balance between deep heartache and sharply irreverent humor. Harlan's folksy voice narrates ( I wanted to go like an old dog with a small bladder, he says about the trip), and tension produced by his thoughts of running away and his run-ins with shady characters move the story swiftly along. Many teens will see their own questions about faith, worship, and independence in Harlan's heart-twisting feelings: How could God love a screw-up [sic] like me? GillianEngberg. From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.