Published: July 22, 2011
Words: 39,514 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9780986967818

Short description

“A spellbinding juvenile mystery novel that is sheer magic." - Michele Rooney Literary Agency ***** “…I was charmed by Archie.” – The Rights Factory ***** Archie Crane shines shoes on the mean streets of a tough blue collar town amidst ex-cons, drunks, and dirty cops. When he finds a stolen golden coin in his money can he's thrown into a world of trouble where everyone wants a piece of the pie.

Extended description

Twelve year old Archie Crane has a dream to be reunited with his estranged father. Shining shoes in front of a hotel in a tough blue-collar town is the only way, but it'll take a lot of nickels and dimes for a bus ticket. Shining shoes is his first job and it's not easy fending off drunks and cheats. Archie has developed a tough exterior working the streets, but inside he’s just a lonely kid who seeks his father’s love. Archie doesn’t like his school and the kids at school don’t like him. His only friends are an old ex-vaudeville entertainer, Freddie Fox, a secretive Indian, Lyle Raintree, and Ma Belasky, a mysterious gypsy woman who runs the local café, a hangout for ex-cons and riff-raff. The mean streets get a whole lot meaner when Boogy, rink rat and bully, is determined to wrest the shoe-shine spot away from Archie by any means. After Boogy pushes him into traffic, Archie awakens in the hospital with two detectives at his bedside, very curious as to how a stolen .. (Read more) Twelve year old Archie Crane has a dream to be reunited with his estranged father. Shining shoes in front of a hotel in a tough blue-collar town is the only way, but it'll take a lot of nickels and dimes for a bus ticket. Shining shoes is his first job and it's not easy fending off drunks and cheats. Archie has developed a tough exterior working the streets, but inside he’s just a lonely kid who seeks his father’s love. Archie doesn’t like his school and the kids at school don’t like him. His only friends are an old ex-vaudeville entertainer, Freddie Fox, a secretive Indian, Lyle Raintree, and Ma Belasky, a mysterious gypsy woman who runs the local café, a hangout for ex-cons and riff-raff. The mean streets get a whole lot meaner when Boogy, rink rat and bully, is determined to wrest the shoe-shine spot away from Archie by any means. After Boogy pushes him into traffic, Archie awakens in the hospital with two detectives at his bedside, very curious as to how a stolen gold coin ended up in his money can. One stolen gold coin is a curiosity, but when he stumbles upon 42, his simple world is turned upside down. The two cops catch gold fever, determined to find all the coins. Caught between holding stolen items and finding a trustworthy person to turn the gold into cash proves to be fraught with danger. As the walls begin to tumble and the police close in, Archie's hope of rejoining his father may only be a dream.
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Tags

adventure, mystery, fear, bravery, bullying, bully victim, fear of exposure, gold coins, courageous, stolen goods, suspense action story, bully tactics, bully conflict, bullying fiction

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Reviews

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Review by: David Dostaler on April 13, 2012 :
This book is part of a semi-series of three Children's Fiction books by E.R. Yatscoff. The other two books are: Ransom and Out on a Limb. I'm fairly sure the main character is the same in the other two books but I'm not sure if it's the same one with Archie's Gold. It definitely seems very similar.

I found this book of a much higher quality of writing than the other two. I'm not sure exactly why this is. Perhaps the author's writing was maturing by this point. The content of all three books is quite funny and interesting. The stories remind me of the stories my Dad told me of his childhood. Tree forts, outrageous endeavors, and generally just being a very exuberant little kid.

Archie's Gold is about a kid named Archie who helps an old drunk Named Freddie by walking him from the bar down a dangerous street for mutual protection (Archie shines shoes at the bar to make money to visit his Dad who is separated from his mother who will now have nothing to do with the father).

One day the old drunk drops a gold coin in his nickel collection cup for shoe shining. Not long after the old man passes all his 40 some gold coins on to Archie who is basically his only friend and then soon dies afterwards.

Things get complicated when two cops and a load of people start harassing Archie and trying to get a piece of the gold coins. Archie plays it pretty cool for a kid his age and puts his trust in a man named Lyle Raintree who is perhaps one of the most interesting characters in the book.

Lyle helps out Archie and sells the gold coins (which were stolen by someone else long ago before Freddie got them) and passes the money on to Archie. Not only that, Lyle sets up a meeting between Archie and his father at the end of the book.

At its heart this is a story about a boy who wants to reconnect with his father, and finally succeeds. It's a good tale, and it's well-told. There is also a fire-fighter angle because E.R. Yatscoff is a firefighter and according to his blog "1st in Canadian Firefighting Fiction".

I hope this review helps you make a more informed decision on whether to buy this book or not. I'd recommend checking out the sample to see if it's your kind of story or not.

--David.
(reviewed within a week of purchase)

Review by: MP Publishing on April 08, 2012 :
A story I really enjoyed after my kid read it. A host of good characters, mostly adult that interact with Archie who's a brave boy shining shoes in the evening in front of a hotel. I melted into the street scenes and ex-cons and the blue-collar town. I rooted for Archie as he does his best to get back with his father. The author draws a good picture I think of the 1960s. Highly recommend this one.
(reviewed the day of purchase)

Review by: MP Publishing on April 08, 2012 : (no rating)
A story I really enjoyed after my kid read it. A host of good characters, mostly adult that interact with Archie who's a brave boy shining shoes in the evening in front of a hotel. I melted into the street scenes and ex-cons and the blue-collar town. I rooted for Archie as he does his best to get back with his father. The author draws a good picture I think of the 1960s. Highly recommend this one.
(reviewed the day of purchase)

Review by: Helen Rose on Sep. 06, 2011 :
Archie, the main character is a brave young man who must struggle through some great problems to rejoin his father. The story has good imagery of the streets and characters. At times there is a sense of hopelessness as the boy gets in so much trouble he doesn't know what to do. The kid has a heart of gold and manages to pull up his socks and get things done. My son read it and liked it,especially some of the quirky characters like Boogie. I read it, too and thinks its a pretty good read especially about life in the 60's. Shoeshine boys are hard to find these days but apparently used to be everywhere so its a bit of history, too. Archie is a fighter, a brave boy. I read the other book by this writer Ransom and liked it, too so I'm a fan now.
(reviewed the day of purchase)

Review by: C KYM on Sep. 02, 2011 :
The characters in here are wonderful esp. Freddie Fox. And I loved Archie. There's a dark feeling to this story that gives it great atmosphere and suspense. Many great characters circle around the boy and his gold coins in the tough town. Archie is a sympathetic character who feels alone and frightened in a tough world although he puts on a brave face. The sub-plot with Boogie a mean kid and Archie’s foe, puts extra stress on Archie and he's outclassed. The story reminds me of Oliver Twist. The author’s site says he has several more coming soon.. I’m a fan. Hope they’re all this good. Many stars!
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

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