The Flimflam Man
Description
On a scorching July day in 1950, a fabulous fat man drives into Wetumka, Oklahoma. F. Bam Morrison is selling tickets to Bohn's United Circus Shows, and the townspeople are buying-all, that is, except ol' man Swank, who says F. Bam Morrison is a two-faced weasel. Smitten with Morrison, ten-year-old Bobbie Jo Hailey-and mean Clara Jean Knox, whom she befriends-unwittingly joins the effort to bamboozle Wetumka. When Bobbie Jo realizes her mistake, Morrison is on his way out of town, leaving her disappointed but intact-and greatly enriched by her relationship with the flimflam man.
Lovingly illustrated by Eileen Christelow, Darleen Bailey Beard's delightful story is based on a real episode in Wetumka's history, still celebrated annually as Sucker Day!
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Person
Darleen Bailey Beard, author of Twister and The Babbs Switch Story, lives in Tuttle, Oklahoma.
Eileen Christelow has written and/or illustrated many books for children. She lives in Dummerston, Vermont.