I'm rereading this now... it's probably my fifth or sixth time. I also have the unabridged audio book. That is a fav for LONG car trips. I guess it's a fav because I had such an odd childhood, moving often, changing schools, and always having to find new friends. Their were a couple groups that I had that remind me of the kids in "It," and the group in "The Body."
I spent half a school year in a very small town in FL. The boy next door was 17 to my 10 in actual age but was developmentally challenged. Back then, no one had heard of PC, so they just called the kid a Tard.
He was my neighbor, and I liked him. He had a small boat and knew every inch of the lake. After taking my stepdad and I fishing a couple times, he had impressed him enough that I had permission to hang out with him.
"Everything in life doesn't come from books," my stepfather told my mother, "that boy knows the lake, knows fishing, and knows safe operation of his boat."
He was my Duddits. His folks were great people and were shocked at first that my folks let me hang with their son. We were best of friends... until I had to move months later.
Sigh... my stepfather supervised crews building those huge power towers across the state. When the power lines moved too far along, we moved ahead of the path. Usually took six or eight months for the power lines to catch up and then pass us again. When it was too far to drive again, pack up and move... he did that job for almost two years. For a kid... it really sucked.