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Book Review - Full Service
Reprinted from February 2006 Issue

-by MARSHA BATES
Full Service, written by Will Weaver, © 2005, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, NY, 232 pages.

Sixteen-year-old Paul Sutton is a naive farm boy from a conservative religious family, “Not Lutheran, but sort of. Not Mennonite, but kind of. Not Amish, but a little bit.” At his mother’s surprising suggestion, Paul finds a summer job in town at the Shell service station.

Hawk Bend, Minnesota is a one-stoplight town close to the resort lakes. The service station provides Paul the opportunity to observe a microcosm of life in the customers he serves and the people he works with. Some are hardworking, some lazy, some moral, some not. Some, like Dale, are soon headed for Vietnam to fight in the war, some, like the family in the hippie van broken down at the state park, have lost their faith in the government and God alike, but believe that peace among men is a mission they serve.

The town polish Paul’s mom hopes he will achieve quickly changes to disillusion and rebellion against his family and faith. Paul finds himself succumbing to temptations he never dreamed of. Suddenly, a vehicle is no longer just a machine to make farm work easier, but an accessory to entice the opposite sex. Paul gradually loses his goody-two-shoes persona and draws farther and farther from the path his parents have prepared for him. By summer’s end, Paul must decide where his choices lie as far as his faith and his future. Will the “Workers” from the church save his soul and draw him back to the flock, or will the enticing, contradictory life in town change him forever?

As we watch Paul struggle to do the right thing and fall short of the mark, the reader might wonder why his parents don’t insist that he quit his job and return to the farm where there is plenty of work to be done and they can protect him from secular sin. Perhaps this is a quirk of their religion, but Paul’s parents merely express disappointment, they never punish. It’s up to Paul to find his way and to develop the strength of character to make the right decisions. This book is recommended for teens in grades 9 through 12. Reviewed by Marsha Bates, employee of the Kennewick Branch of the Mid-Columbia Library System.