Richard Peck's The Best Man

Richard Peck’s book, The Best Man, is a humorous, thoughtful, family oriented novel of a character named Archer Magill who has spent five lively years of grade school with one eye out in search of grown-up role models. Archer begins to get to grips with what growing up, and being grown up, mean. Overall, the Peck builds an idyllic, yet realistic, slice of one boy’s life, with it’s up and downs, while gently slipping in a message of tolerance. In a comfortably middle-class white suburb of Chicago, sixth grader narrator, Archer starts the story as white velvet beshorted ring bearer at a wedding, and closes it as the Ralph- Lauren clad best man at the wedding of his Uncle Paul to his teacher Mr. McLeod. Between the two, Archer gives vignettes

Archer’s awareness of his Uncle Paul’s sexuality-and of Paul’s growing bond with Mr. McLeod, unfolds at a pace that feels authentic to an eleven -year old boy trying to make sense of the world. Uncle Paul alludes to his sexuality in multiple conversations with Archer. “Everybody had a crush on Shoewalter,” Paul says about the father of Archer’s classmate; “I think I had a crush on him to.” However, Archer misses these references entirely. When Archer’s father takes him on an unexpected trip as a mission to persuade Paul to get serious about Mr. McLeod, Archer asks “If they will talk it over.” His father responds by saying “No, we’re guys. We will talk about the Cubs or cars, but we’ll make sure to Paul sees there’s a place for Ed McLeod in our family. During this scene, Archer was moved emotionally to encourage Uncle Paul that he sees no problem for the two of them to be together because love is love, regardless of the gender. With Archer’s caring personality, he gives Uncle Paul words of wisdom, only appreciated him more for being a great role model in his life, especially when Paul helped handle a bully. In its quiet way, by normalizing a variety of flavors of gay and straight masculinity for the first generation raised in a world in which gay marriage is the law of the land, The Best Man shows readers how families can come together with a full team of support for same sex