A review by pwbalto
Waiting for Augusta by Jessica Lawson

2.0

Gr 4-8 -- Eleven-year-old Ben Putter is kind of a weird kid. Not majorly crazy, but he does have conversations with inanimate objects. And in the months since his golf-obsessed daddy died, Ben’s been convinced there’s a golf ball lodged in his neck. And when Daddy pipes up from beyond the grave, asking Ben to scatter his ashes on the 18th hole of the Augusta National Golf Club, Ben, craving his father’s attention and understanding, runs away from home to do so. There’s a lot going on in this book, which is set during the furor over school integration in the American South. Ben feels guilt for not sticking up for his friend May, one of the first African American kids in his school. His fierce traveling companion, Noni, is secretive and maybe untrustworthy. And it seems like everyone they meet on their journey is grieving over their own losses. Best for readers who like the wealth of plot and Southern setting in Sheila Turnage’s Three Times Lucky books - possibly a little much for others. —Paula Willey