The Operation That Happened to Rupert Piper

The Operation That Happened to Rupert Piper by Ethelyn M. Parkinson (1966) This is the first of four full length Rupert Piper books, by Ethelyn M. Parkinson (after three collections of Rupert Piper short stories). It has the feeling of the stories, but I like it better, in that it’s not merely humor; it’s a longer, fairly serious story, but still very funny. The convoluted plot of this one has to do with Rupert needing an appendectomy, and his parents and doctor kind of tricking him into the hospital—acting like there is a patient identity mix-up with one of his friends who has accidentally swallowed a coin. It sounds crazy, but it has to be read to believed—it’s totally logical and quite clever. The ongoing drama in the saga is about Rupert and his friends trying to help the cause of getting a local public swimming pool financed and built. There is ongoing anxiety among the boys about pleasing the pool’s wealthy patron, the competition with their female classmates, and the possible romantic interests of a teacher the boys all have a crush on. The real heart of the story, though, is a boy who Rupert meets in the hospital who is recovering from a horrific accident in which both of his parents were killed. This sounds terribly heavy, and it is, but the whole thing stays fun and delightful because of the way the author really gets into the perceptions of kids this age—the kind of irreverence and eccentricity that is so seldom evident in stories that get mired in sentimentalism. It’s not light, but it’s always entertaining, sometimes weird, and often hilarious. This book is a classic that should be reprinted year after year by some major publisher, but probably will not be—and may only be remembered by the loyal fans of the amazing Ethelyn M. Parkinson.