CENTRAL ILLINOIS - 1979 Thirteen-year-old Spence MacElliott is a kid in trouble. Hit by his father at home, and hitting others at school, he's on the verge of being expelled from Halvdale Junior High. Seeking refuge from the violence of his rust belt town, Spence spends every spare minute volunteering at Pal's Place, an animal shelter located far outside the city limits. There, he forms a bond with Blue, a battle-scarred pit bull who's managed to escape from a ruthless out-of-state dogfighter. When Spence's drunken, abusive father dies during a "domestic incident," Spence, with his reputation as a fighter and troublemaker, becomes the main suspect in his death—and the star witness at an upcoming coroner's inquest. Facing a stint in juvenile hall, or worse, Spence treads lightly. But the more he tries to avoid trouble, the more trouble seems to find him.
The narrative unfolds from Spencer’s deceptively offhanded perspective, with readers given continuous insight into this 13-year-old’s observations and internal monologues. Schulze does a good job of personifying a teenager, and the sarcastic minimalism of the tone recalls Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye. But there’s a lot more action here, much of it exciting and dramatic yet written with compelling realism. Readers will not find it hard to believe that it is a 13-year-old both handling and narrating these events. The other characters are also a piquant set, bringing light to a sometimes dark tale, their lives captured in crisp, compact prose: “Now Daryl works at the Chevy dealership in town,” Spence tells us, “and he talks about it the same way he talks about the army.”
At times, Schulze switches telling the story from Spence’s perspective to that of the dog, Blue. Though this is an interesting experiment, it often proves more jarring than enlightening, especially as Blue’s perspective is already implied in scenes with Spence. Schulze touchingly creates a sense of community among survivors of abuse, as, over the course of the story, many characters are revealed to have grown up in the shadow of alcoholic fathers. Still, Hitter and Blue is a heart-warming read, building to a satisfying ending and lesson.
Takeaway: Heartwarming coming-of-age story of escaping abuse and the love of a dog.
Comparable Titles: Kathe Koja’s Straydog, Robin Roe’s A List of Cages.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A
