Lynch, Chris. Gold Dust. HarperCollins, 2000. ISBN 0-060-28175-8. $15.95. 196 pp.”* 5+ FI Reviewed by Marilyn Lee Richard, a monomaniacal baseball jock, avoids dealing with the prejudicial “stuff” (as he calls it) of 1975 Boston through his single-mindedness. When Napoleon, a cultured, intelligent Jamaican, enters his classroom Richard is forced to move outside his self-defined world. The action in Gold Dust is incidental to the characterization, which is flawless. Although written in first person with jock lingo, bravado, and benevolent sarcastic trash-talk clearly from the seventies, Gold Dust is still understandable today. The delineation of all characters is crisp, and the dialog is magical. This is definitely a book to read out loud. The profound insights the boys learn are crafted into the dialog convincingly and, though they seem wise beyond the norm, they seem natural to the situation and conversation. The book would readily create a springboard discussion of many vital issues young people face today.
