The Mayor of Central Park

by Avi, Brian Floca (Illustrator)

Overview

Life is good for Oscar Westerwit. He's the mayor of Central Park — the greatest place on earth for the squirrels, chipmunks, mice, and other animals who live there. He's the shortstop and manager of his baseball team. What could be bad?

Plenty! Big Daddy Duds, jewel thief, all-around thug, and leader of rats, is about to take over the park. And when he does, the other animals who live there will be turned out of their homes. Everyone looks to Oscar to save the day, but he may not even be able to save himself. . . .

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060515577
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	03/15/2005
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	208
Sales rank:	646,969
Product dimensions:	5.12(w) x 7.62(h) x 0.42(d)
Lexile:	570L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Avi is the award-winning author of more than eighty-two books for young readers, ranging from animal fantasy to gripping historical fiction, picture books to young adult novels. Crispin: The Cross of Lead won the Newbery Medal, and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and Nothing but the Truth were awarded Newbery Honors. He is also the author of the popular Poppy series. Avi lives in Denver, Colorado. Visit him online at avi-writer.com.

Brian Floca, in addition to being the illustrator of the books in Avi's Poppy Stories series, is the author and illustrator of the acclaimed picture books Locomotive, winner of the Caldecott Medal; Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11; Lightship; The Racecar Alphabet; and Five Trucks. You can visit him online at www.brianfloca.com.

Date of Birth:

December 23, 1937

Place of Birth:

New York, New York

Education:

University of Wisconsin; M.A. in Library Science from Columbia University, 1964

Website:

http://www.avi-writer.com

Read an Excerpt

The Mayor of Central Park

Chapter One

I Start Telling the Tale

Now the way I heard it, this whole loopy story happened in the pearly month of May 1900, right here in the middle of New York City. It's mostly about this gray squirrel who went by the name of Oscar Westerwit.

To look at Oscar Westerwit you might think, hey, just another New York City squirrel. Only thing is, if you said that, you'd be dead wrong. 'Cause the simple scoop is that this here Oscar Westerwit was a full-sized uptown romantic. And when you get an uptown squirrel who's romantic, let me tell you something: You got yourself a story busting to trot itself up Broadway like a tap-dancing centipede.

But you're asking, how come I was able to grab this tale? Well, back in them days I was cub reporter for the Daily Mirror. My beat was Central Park. So, figures, while I'm not in the story, I heard all about it.

Anyway, this Oscar Westerwit, this squirrel I'm talking about, the voters in Central Park used to call him the mayor of Central Park. Which ain't to say he actually was mayor. At the time, the real mayor of New York was Hiz Honor Robert A. Van Wyck, a guy so terrific they named a traffic jam after him.

But the thing of it was, since Oscar knew everybody and everything in the park so well, the voters there called him the mayor.

Now to bump right into the beginning, this yarn started spinning string on the third Friday night in May. That was when Oscar held his regular mayor's monthly open house.

Only first you need to fix yourself a picture of Oscar in your head. I mean, this here was one swell-suited squirrel, dressed up to all nine buttons. He was sporting a light, white cotton suit, with a baby blue bow tie, shined-up shoes and spats, and a ripping red gardenia right there on his jacket lapel.

And his home -- a two-room elm tree apartment in the middle of the park-was just as terrific. There was an easy chair by the window with an actual electric lamp at its side. There was a pile of The Baseball Weekly stacked up along with the New York Tribune. Pictures of his heroes -- Honus Wagner, Roscoe Conklin, and Lillian Russell -- were on the walls, right along with his degree from the City University -- class of 1898.

As for Oscar hisself, he was humming a Broadway show tune and sliding into a tap-dance do-diddle every other step while setting food on the table. You know, like:

My sweetheart's the girl in the moon,
I'm getting to marry her soon.

When all of a sudden, who should come bip-bopping into his room? Sam Peekskill, that's who.

"Hey, Oscar," the rabbit shouted, the way only an excited southpaw rabbit can volume his voice, "Arty Bigalow has gone missing!"

Now what you got to know is, Oscar wasn't just mayor of Central Park. No, sir, he was also the shortstop and manager of the Central Park Green Sox. And a pretty decent player, too.

"Says who?" said Oscar to Sam.

"No one's seen him since day before the day before."

"I'm not worried," said Oscar as he filled a bowl with nuts and crackers and set it by the window.

"How come?" said Sam.

"Sam," said Oscar as he laid out some pretzels and pickles, "no way Arty's going to miss the game. Hey, if we beat the Wall Street Bulls, we're in first place. He knows that. I know that. Everyone knows that. Here, pal, spot down these cucumber sandwiches."

"Sure," said Sam, doing like he was told. "But Oscar," he said, "this Arty, his personal life is one big spicy meatball. What the guys were thinking was, maybe youse should go check his boardinghouse. I mean, that cat's our only pitcher."

Oscar shook his head and plunked a pile of napkins down like he was flashing a royal flush at a Friday night poker game. "Tonight's my open house."

"So?"

"Hey, Sam," said Oscar. "Come over here."

Sam went to where Oscar was standing by the window.

"See that moon in the sky?" said the squirrel.

"Sure. It's where it's supposed to be, ain't it?"

"Right. But pop your eyes on how the moonlight makes the park hills, lakes, trees, and meadows look like they've been dipped deep in blue light and purple shadow."

"Okay."

"And there -- the Dakota towers are looking like servants on the ready. Now -- listen to those clip-clopping horses and carriages on Fifth Avenue. And over to the West Side -- hear them clanging trolley bells. Got all that?"

"What's all this to do with tomorrow's game?"

"Sam," said Oscar, "this Central Park is ... perfect."

"Yeah, but if Arty --"

"Hey, pal," said Oscar, "Central Park is where I was born, grew up, and live. Central Park is the best beauty in this whole burg."

"Sure, Oscar, but Arty --"

"Hey, come on. Guys like us have been around here long before 1857 when the park was built; long before the Dutch showed up in 1612. Long even before the Lenape Indians named this island Manna-hata."

"Okay," said Sam. "It's great to know all that stuff, but if Arty don't --"

Oscar spread his forepaws wide. "Hey, I love this place!"

"Oscar," said Sam, "you know where a romantic like youse belongs? In a Broadway show, that's where."

"Broadway Oscar, that's me!" And the squirrel did a quick tap-dance double doodle.

"That's cute, Oscar, but I just hope you're right about Arty."

Wasn't long before the apartment was crowded. Some were there for the nuts, pretzels, and talk Oscar laid out deep. But plenty of folks were there asking for his help ...

The Mayor of Central Park. Copyright © by Denise Avi. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1	I Start Telling the Tale	1
Chapter 2	Big Daddy Duds	10
Chapter 3	Duds Does Some Thoughts	15
Chapter 4	Oscar's Big Game	21
Chapter 5	Duds Plots His Plan	26
Chapter 6	Duds in His Digs	29
Chapter 7	Miss Maud	35
Chapter 8	Oscar Worries	39
Chapter 9	Miss Maud Makes Her Move	43
Chapter 10	What Happened to Maud	49
Chapter 11	Big Daddy Duds Makes His Move	54
Chapter 12	Oscar Makes a Discovery	59
Chapter 13	Oscar and the Cop	64
Chapter 14	The New Central Park	71
Chapter 15	What Oscar Saw	76
Chapter 16	Duds in Central Park	83
Chapter 17	Maud Makes a Decision	89
Chapter 18	Oscar's Ma's Home	92
Chapter 19	Uncle Wilkie	98
Chapter 20	The Storm	102
Chapter 21	The Moan	107
Chapter 22	Oscar Makes an Army	114
Chapter 23	Duds Has a Visitor	122
Chapter 24	Oscar Talks	129
Chapter 25	More Talk from Oscar	133
Chapter 26	Maud Again	137
Chapter 27	Oscar's Army	140
Chapter 28	The Army of Central Park	144
Chapter 29	Maud and Uncle Wilkie	153
Chapter 30	Ready for the Battle	156
Chapter 31	Maud	161
Chapter 32	The Big Battle	167
Chapter 33	Hiz Honor the Mayor and Maud	173
Chapter 34	The Challenge	177
Chapter 35	The Big Game	183
Chapter 36	Last Bits and Bites	191

Editorial Reviews

This New York is brash, energetic and wittily translated to fit Avi's anthropomorphic world, while Brian Floca's full-page illustrations skillfully render both the characters and their park. In his elegantly detailed pencil drawings, a battalion of rats, armed and at attention, fills Bethesda Fountain Terrace (the angel of the fountain, of course, is here a squirrel); in another, the nattily attired Oscar hatches a plot in the dim bar of the Rock and Mole Café. — Andrea Thompson

The Washington Post

In a starred review, PW called this tale of a baseball-loving jewel thief of a rat who takes over Central Park in 1900 New York City, "an over-the-top romp." Ages 8-12. (Mar.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Gr 3-6-This animal fantasy cum comic-gangster tale is spiced with some old-fashioned romance and set at the turn of the 19th century. The narrator, a cub reporter at the Daily Mirror, tells the story of squirrel Oscar Westerwit, acclaimed as the "Mayor" of Central Park. The story centers around Oscar's struggle against the rat Big Daddy Duds, when he and his gang invade the park, terrorize the residents, and vandalize their homes. The book opens with the star pitcher of the Central Park Green Sox going missing: the first sign that something is amiss. The resolution to the conflict comes through a baseball game, and the character who replaces the missing player provides a pleasurable plot twist. The lighthearted, almost frothy characterization and conversational storytelling style work fine, and successfully evoke a tough New York, complete with payoffs and tip-offs. However, the fantasy is less successful. Some animals live in trees, albeit fully furnished, even electrified ones, leading readers to believe that they coexist with a human-sized world. On the other hand, wealthy Mr. van Blunker, a goat, lives in a mansion on Fifth Avenue. It turns out that there are no humans in this fantasy universe, but the magic is broken, and readers are left wondering about the relative sizes of the animals and their physical environment. The inclusion of nonnative animal species, including a yak and a kangaroo, may be a nod to cosmopolitanism, but it further weakens the fantasy. Still, this is an enjoyable chapter book for readers not yet ready for the seriousness or more sophisticated humor of Poppy (Orchard, 1995) and its sequels.-Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Central Park's furred and feathered residents face an incursion of gangster rats in this turn-of-the-20th-century tale of baseball, interspecies romance, and ingenuousness triumphant. The sudden appearance of Big Daddy Duds and his well-armed thugs compels Oscar Westerwit, a bon vivant squirrel who considers himself the park's unofficial "Mayor," to take action. His ragtag "army" is quickly dispersed, but unexpected allies have been at work behind the scenes, and persuade Oscar to play on Duds's predilection for baseball by challenging him to a winner-take-all game. With Oscar's new heartthrob Maud making a surprise appearance on the mound, the good guys come out on top, of course. Told in rollicking, streetwise language, the episode rolls fluidly along, and aside from one wounded rabbit the violence never escalates beyond threats-but there's more baseball talk than baseball action. Avi can do better than this predictable plot, and despite his habit of calling park residents "voters," and Floca's natty Wind in the Willows-type animal figures, any satiric or metaphorical subtext is buried beyond recovery. (Fiction. 10-12)

Kirkus Reviews

Fans of Avi's Dimwood Forest titles will delight in taking a new trip, this time to New York's Central Park. Baseball, gang intrigue, and a love affair interweave as the rats move uptown and upset the equilibrium of the established animal community. Oscar Westerwit, the squirrel who has long held the mayorship, young Maud, Big Daddy Duds, and members of the local baseball teams, scheme, mince, and bumble their way into young listeners’ hearts. Avi’s playful references to turn-of-the-century New York will intrigue older listeners. Mark Nelson balances all the balls well--the tongue-in-cheek humor, the New York accents, the alliteration and word play, the pacing, and the myriad characters. He voices a conniving rat boss, a “sees-all” barmaid, and a “my-son-never-listens-to-me” mother. All the while, Oscar remains fresh and convincing. A.R. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine

OCT/NOV 04 - AudioFile