“Billy Creekmore” by Tracey Porter was an unexpected delight for me. The story of a young boy who was left at a cruel orphanage, I thought it would be depressing and gloomy. It did have depressing moments, but Billy’s spiritedness and determination to survive pulled it out of the gloom and made it remarkable.
When Billy was born, he opened his eyes and gestured at the ceiling, saying, “There.” It shocked his midwife so much, she said he must be communing with spirits. His mother’s heart was weak to begin with, and she didn’t survive the birth, and his father was a drifter and took off. The midwife did the best she could with Billy for a couple of years, but his keep grew too much for her, and she didn’t like the idea of caring for a child who could “see spirits.” So Billy was brought to the Guardian Angels Home for Boys, where he was put to work, fed far too little, beaten for every minor infraction, and told that he’s worth nothing.
At an early age, Billy learns to use his gift for his own gain, and occasionally manages to get out of trouble by saying he’s seeing a spirit. His penchant for lying gets him in trouble from time to time as well, but the consequences aren’t as bad as the beating he was trying to avoid.
One of the boys from the home is sent to work in the glass works factory, as all the boys are when they hit a certain age. He escapes and returns to the Home, where Billy finds him, maimed from an accident. Billy tries to help him, but they find the body of the boy in the river the next morning. Billy is supposed to replace him, but right before he is to go, his long lost uncle shows up to claim him and takes Billy away to a life he never knew existed, one where he’s treated with love and fed as much as he can eat.
This next portion of the book is very poignant to me. Billy goes to work in the coal mines – my own great-great-grandfather was a coalminer in Wales, and the characters Billy interacts with are Welsh. When Billy gets caught up in union disputes, he’s on the run again, to find that the things he’s always looked for aren’t the things he really wants.
This book was shelved in the junior section at my library, but I would recommend it for young adult and up. While nothing graphic takes place, the themes are more suited for an older reader. I enjoyed this story immensely and encourage you to read it – the writing is beautiful, the flavor of the era is rich, and you’ll come away from it with hope and an appreciation for life.
(This book was published in 2007 by HarperCollins.)
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