When Zachary Beaver Came to Town

National Book Award Winner: A compelling coming-of-age story about a thirteen-year-old boy struggling to find himself in an imperfect world.

The red words painted on the trailer caused quite a buzz around town and before an hour was up, half of Antler was standing in line with two dollars clutched in hand to see the fattest boy in the world.

Toby Wilson is having the toughest summer of his life. It's the summer his mother leaves for good; the summer his best friend's brother returns from Vietnam in a coffin. And the summer that Zachary Beaver, the fattest boy in the world, arrives in their sleepy Texas town. While it's a summer filled with heartache of every kind, it's also a summer of new friendships gained and old friendships renewed. And it's Zachary Beaver who turns the town of Antler upside down and leaves everyone, especially Toby, changed forever.

At turns passionate and humorous, Kimberly Willis Holt with understated elegance presents this extraordinary novel that deals sensitively and candidly with obesity, war, and the true power of friendship.

"Tenderly captures small-town life and deftly fills it with decent characters who ring true . . . her quiet novel offers a slice of life that's hard to resist." - New York Times Book Review

"Holt humanizes the outsider without sentimentality. . . . In the tradition of many Southern writers, Holt reveals the freak in all of us, and the power of redemption." - Booklist (starred review)