Kelly's creek

Kelly’s Creek (1975) deals with the social and educational problems of nine-year-old Kelly O’Brian. Handicapped by dyslexia, Kelly had to repeat first grade. Now in the third grade, not only is he considered slow and stupid by regular classmates, but he is also behind the others in the special class he is attending.

Kelly finds school to be uncongenial, and his stern parents are disappointed. His father, who would like a son who could play ball and be a scout, is especially frustrated because Kelly prefers to dabble in the creek in their backyard in Brunswick, Georgia.

Kelly’s interest in the tidal creek and his friendship with Phillip, a junior college student who is doing marine research, do provide him an educational outlet, though. Phillip teaches Kelly to identify the wildlife, especially various kinds of fiddler crabs. When he reports successfully on this subject to his regular class, they recognize that he is not really slow, and he regains briefly the friendship of Zack, with whom he used to play.

Both the biological description of the fertile marsh life and the sterile therapeutic exercises that Kelly must repeat to overcome dyslexia are authentically detailed. The descriptions of his thoughts, which often focus on fantasy, are well done, and the simple black-and-white pen-and-ink illustrations by Alan Tiegreen reflect the realism of the story and the isolation of Kelly.