William Robert Hibbard

Numbered Lakes William Robert Hibbard

Although shaped as a novel, Numbered Lakes is a collection of connected micro stories narrated by a young boy named Robbie who grew up in the North Little Rock suburb of Lakewood. These fictional stories focus mostly on Robbie's life in the year, 1969, a year of firsts for him - first grade, first football game, first fish, first flight, first foot race, first shot, first family vacation, first hurricane, and reading for the first time, among other highlights. The book begins with Robert asking his young daughter Isabel what bedtime story she wants him to read. Isabel, tired of the same stories, asks her father to tell some stories about when he was a kid. Robert begins to do just that, but Isabel stops him and asks him to tell the stories as Robbie, the 7-year-old. This process generated 23 improvised micro stories in which we meet Robbie's family and a fictional assortment of neighborhood kids and hear of Robbie's adventures. The cast of family includes big sister Keri, who keeps Robbie out of trouble and from being bullied; Mom, the local music teacher who cultivates Robbie's interest in piano; Dad, the architect and Robbie's encyclopedic source of information; his aunt, who is like a big sister and can drive; his uncle, the pilot; Granddaddy, the collector, storyteller and poet; Grandmama, a gardener, and bird watcher with a passion for reading; Gammy, the businesswoman with radar ears; and Gagan, the farmer, carpenter, and fisherman. The kids from the neighborhood include Walter from Delight, his best friend, who visits his grandfather in Lakewood during the summer; Dean, the genius who is reported to have started a fire with a firefly; Herbie, a 3-year-old who can somehow ride a bike with gears and is rumored to be with the circus; Belinda, the best pitcher in Lakewood and her little sister, Melinda, the best screamer in the neighborhood; and finally, Truck, a weightlifter who walks around with ankle weights and a shot put. Numbered Lakes gives the reader a sense of both suburban and rural southern life in the late '60s from the perspective of a funny kid who has a lot to say.