"That's some getup you're wearing! Them shoes look like what Old King Cole wears in the cartoons! You got king's shoes, man."

"Look who's talking. Your pants look like something a clown would wear, with those big pockets."

And so begins the most unlikely friendship since Tom Sawyer joined forces with Huckleberry Finn.

Raymond Brock and his family have just moved to a trailer park in Alabama. Always shy, Raymond finds it hard to adjust to his new home. But some things remain the same - his parents still have no time for him, his siblings still consider him a pest, and he still has to wear his brother Vance's hand-me-downs, plus an ugly pair of brown leather dress shoes.

Then Raymond meets Bruce Manis, son of the local junk dealer. Bruce is independent, rowdy, and proud of the oversized rags he wears. His devil-may-care attitude makes Raymond uneasy at first, but he soon grows to see Bruce as a real friend. Sharing secrets and adventures and a squirrel-hunting dog named Floppy, King Shoes, who feels no one loves him, and Clown Pockets, whom no one loves, help each other come to terms with their families and their problems.

Rich in the people and places of its rural southern setting, King Shoes, and Clown Pockets is the funny-sad story of a boy whose friendship with a fellow outsider gives him the confidence and courage to be himself.

This hardback book is in great condition and 1 lb and 0.8 oz.