The Yankee Doctor — Richard Mason

It's 1945 in the small town of Norphlet, Arkansas, and 12-year-old Richard Mason and his best friend, John Clayton Reed, have a big problem. Not the distant War overseas, getting caught in Old Man Odom's watermelon patch, or missing any of Walter Winchell's rapid-fire radio broadcasts. This problem is that new Yankee Doctor in town who is welcoming shady "clients" to his office downtown-a secret known only to Richard and John Clayton. Richard and John Clayton attempt to drive the doctor out of town with weapons from the arsenal of 12-year-old country boys: a sack full of angry hornets, hundreds of roaches from the city garbage dump, and a few well-placed brown water snakes. In the end, Richard and John Clayton expose the "sorry" antics of Dr. Carl and his floozy nurse, Miss Tina, in this Huckleberry Finn tale of friendship, family honor, and small town life in World War II-era America.