12-year-old Gypsy leads what she believes to be a boring life, which is mostly controlled by her mother. She's fascinated by the story of her aunt Belle, who disappeared without a trace years ago. Thus, she's enthusiastic when she learns that her cousin Woodrow, Belle's son, is moving to town. Throughout the summer, she and Woodrow spend time together and get into trouble. As she tries to piece together why Woodrow's mother vanished, Gypsy's also forced to confront her own demons...
Written by Ruth White, this is a young adult fiction novel that takes place in 1950s West Virginia. It won a Newbery Honor Medal in 1997, and had a sequel, The Search for Belle Prater, released in 2005.
Belle Prater's Boy contains the following tropes:
- Appearance Angst: Both Woodrow and Gypsy feel alienated for their looks. Woodrow is crosseyed, and (even before his mother disappeared) he was teased by local children for it. Gypsy is the opposite; she's a very pretty girl with gorgeous long hair, but she feels that people only see her beauty, not who she truly is. They bond over the fact that they are both wonderful people who are more than their looks.
- Blind and the Beast: Woodrow and Gypsy befriend a man named Blind Benny, who was born without eyes and orphaned when he was little. He's had a hard life, but he's a kind individual who recognizes people for who they truly are, and not based on their looks. Woodrow declares that Benny sees better than anyone he's ever met, as he doesn't let appearances deceive him.
- Gene Hunting: This is essentially the plot of the sequel, with Woodrow believing that he can find his mother.
- Long Hair Is Feminine: Gypsy is known throughout town for having hair that she describes as "longer than Rapunzel's", falling past her hips. It's made clear throughout the book that she dislikes having her hair so long, as she doesn't like how people see her hair rather than her, she doesn't like how much work it takes to keep it clean. When forced to confront her father's suicide, she cuts off her hair to just past her ears.
- Missing Mom: The titular Belle Prater. Woodrow has concocted numerous reasons in his head about why his mother is gone, but eventually confesses to Gypsy that he knows the painful truth: his mother left him behind for reasons she didn't bother to explain.
- My Beloved Smother: Gypsy often feels that her mother is too controlling, especially when it comes to her hair (which her mother gets more pride and pleasure from than Gypsy does).
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: Gypsy's father was a firefighter. When Gypsy was five, he ran into a burning building to save a baby. He was successful, but the fire left horrific burns on his face. He was so heartbroken that his face was changed that he committed suicide.
- Not Quite Dead: When a bunch of kids are hanging out, Woodrow tells a story about the funeral of a family member he once attended. The woman had apparently died of a terminal disease, and the doctors believed her dead. When she was buried, her wedding ring (the nicest thing she owned) was on full display. Two of the funeral guests decided to steal her ring, and later that night dug up her grave. When they couldn't remove the ring from her finger, they chopped off her finger. Turns out, she wasn't dead but only in a deep sleep. When they dug her up they revived her, and when they cut off her finger she sprang up and screamed "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING TO ME?!?" She scared the sisters so bad that (even after they learned the truth about what happened) they were scared straight and became dedicated church-goers for the rest of their lives.
- Placebo Effect: During a party, Gypsy's mother makes a drink called Peach Ice (ice cubes, peach soda, and vanilla ice cream) for her guests. Woodrow personally serves a rude lady her drinks. Throughout the party, the woman becomes friendlier and much less inhibited, to the point that she takes off her shoes and goes running through a creek. Woodrow tells Gypsy that he told the woman he was putting a little gin in her drinks, making her believe she was getting drunk. In actuality, he never did; he just wanted to see if she believed him.
- Trauma Button: When Gypsy is at the movies with Woodrow and her stepfather, the film has a suspenseful scene where a woman is about to look in a window. Gypsy has a panic attack and spends the next few days sick in bed. It's later revealed that Gypsy was the first one to find her father's body after his suicide, as she'd looked in his bedroom window to see why his door was locked and found him on the floor.
- Traumatic Haircut: Self-inflicted. When forced to confront the truth about the death of her father, Gypsy cuts off her long blonde hair (something her father had asked her mother to never do).
