Gentlehands by Marijane Meaker
"Gentlehands" by Marijane Meaker is a young adult novel set in the mid-1970s in Seaville, New York, exploring themes of love, family, and the impact of the past on personal identity. The story follows Buddy Boyle, a teenager who embarks on a summer romance with Skye Pennington, an older vacationing socialite, despite familial disapproval. As Buddy navigates his relationship, he uncovers a disturbing legacy tied to his grandfather, Frank Trenker, who is revealed to have been a cruel warden in a Nazi concentration camp. The narrative delves into the complexities of human relationships, social barriers, and the struggle for self-acceptance. Through Buddy’s journey, the novel addresses issues of intolerance and prejudice without adopting a heavy-handed tone, making it accessible to younger readers. With its blend of personal growth and historical reflection, "Gentlehands" invites readers to confront the legacies of history while also highlighting the importance of familial bonds and self-discovery. The book is noted for its compassionate treatment of adolescence, resonating deeply with both teenage audiences and educators.
Subject Terms
Gentlehands by Marijane Meaker
First published: 1978
Subjects: Coming-of-age, family, love and romance, race and ethnicity, and social issues
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Social realism
Time of work: The mid-1970’s
Recommended Ages: 13-15
Locale: The small, bayside tourist town of Seaville in Upstate New York
Principal Characters:
Buddy Boyle , a sixteen-year-old who is attempting to discover his identity by rebelling against his middle-class upbringing and searching for the truth about the grandfather he never knewSkye Pennington , Buddy’s summer girlfriend, an eighteen-year-old socialiteFrank Trenker , Buddy’s grandfather, a former warden of a Nazi concentration campNicholas DeLucca , the cousin of one of Trenker’s victims who eventually exposes Trenker as a war criminal
Form and Content
Gentlehands is the mild yet effective tale of a teenager’s first experience with love that leads him to a disturbing discovery about his maternal grandfather’s involvement in Nazi war crimes. Set in the mid-1970’s in Seaville, New York, the story is a timeless one in that people have always allowed themselves to be isolated from one another by such self-imposed barriers as money and race. While M. E. Kerr offers readers a frank portrayal of human intolerance and prejudice, few would find the tone of the book to be sermonizing.
The story itself is quickly read and easily followed. The protagonist, Buddy Boyle, is first encountered in the middle of a summer romance with Skye Pennington, a vacationing socialite two years his senior. His middle-class family strongly opposes the attraction, claiming that Skye will make Buddy forget where he comes from but obviously fearing that Buddy will be hurt. Buddy continues to pursue the relationship, often covertly, ignoring his obligations to his own family and to his job at the Sweet Mouth Soda Shop.
Eventually, Buddy does begin to feel the need to impress Skye, and he takes her to meet Frank Trenker, the grandfather with whom he himself has had no contact throughout his life. Buddy is easily charmed by his wealthy, sophisticated grandfather, who is kind to Buddy and Skye and to the stray animals that he often takes into his home. After briefly living with his grandfather, however, Buddy learns that Nicholas DeLucca, a man whom Buddy met at a party and who inadvertently led him to his grandfather, is seeking Trenker as the murderer of his cousin in a Nazi concentration camp.
Ultimately, the truth that Buddy’s grandfather, known as Gentlehands in Germany, was indeed a cruel concentration camp warden is revealed in the town newspaper. Buddy, with mixed feelings, seeks out his grandfather but finds that he has fled to safety. Although Buddy is disappointed in his grandfather, he has learned from him to be true to oneself and to value family closeness. This revelation, along with Buddy’s newfound appreciation of his family and Skye’s eminent departure for college, brings their dwindling romance to its conclusion.
Critical Context
Although published after Robert Cormier’s The Chocolate War (1974), a book which began a trend in young adult fiction toward more harshly realistic stories, Gentlehands is milder in tone and less shocking in nature while still facing some of the difficult problems involving maturity, self-identity, racial relations, and social issues. Along with other works by M. E. Kerr such as Dinky Hocker Shoots Smack! (1972), the story of a young girl desperate for her mother’s attention, and The Son of Someone Famous (1974), a boy’s search for self-identity in the face of his parent’s success, Gentlehands compassionately addresses the problems of adolescence. All of Kerr’s books are immensely popular with teenage readers and with educators.
Bibliography
Kerr, M. E. Blood on the Forehead: What I Know About Writing. New York: HarperCollins, 1998.
Kerr, M. E. Me, Me, Me, Me, Me: Not a Novel. New York: Harper & Row, 1983.
The M. E. Kerr and Mary James Web site. http://www.mekerr.com.
Meaker, Marijane. Highsmith: A Romance of the Fifties. San Francisco: Cleis Press, 2003.
Meaker, Marijane. “Marijane Meaker.” In Something About the Author. Vol. 20, edited by Anne Commire. Detroit: Gale, 1980.
Nilsen, Alleen Pace. Presenting M. E. Kerr. Updated ed. New York: Twayne, 1997.
Sutton, Roger. “A Conversation with M. E. Kerr.” School Library Journal 39, no. 6 (June, 1993): 24-29.