The Water is Wide
Conroy, Pat
Parents please be aware that many of Conroy's books contain a great deal of vulgarity.
Conroy states (in My Losing Season): “My books are all disfigured by the sullen presence of my child-beating father, Don Conroy, and this one is no exception. I can remember hating him when I was a two-year-old boy and first came to consciousness when my mother tried to stab him with a butcher knife and he backhanded her to the floor, laughing, a scene I observed from my high chair.”
Blue Valley Communication Arts teachers love this author. Not only do they assign The Water is Wide, but they ask our kids to read three other Conroy books in various classes. Conroy's other Blue Valley textbooks are My Losing Season, The Great Santini, and Lords of Discipline.