Growing up in the hills of West Virginia, all Jimmy Cannon wants is to work on the railroad just like his dad and older brothers. Dad, however, warns that change is coming. Soon the steam engines whose whistles pierce the air will be replaced with deisels. Once the deisels come, Rowlesburg will no longer be a railroad town. Jimmy can’t see it, and he just wants things to stay the way they’ve always been.

Fran Cannon Slayton creates an interesting structure for When the Whistle Blows (Scholastic 2009) Each chapter takes place on All Hallow’s Eve–or Halloween–a year apart, starting in 1943. The structure works quite well. Halloween is an important day in Jimmy’s life since it is also his father’s birthday. I enjoyed reading of Jimmy’s antics as he grew up. At first he is the younger brother, tagging along and trying to figure out what the grownups are up to. One of my favorite scenes was probably the night they planned to throw rotting cabbages at an older teen’s new car, but pelted the sheriff’s car instead. As Jimmy grows older, the events of Halloween reflect his changing interests, from prankster to football star.

Throught it all, Jimmy is fascinated by The Society, a secret organization he is not supposed to know about, much less spy on. I guessed wrong as well as to what it was all about. It is not until the final, tragic chapter that Jimmy–and the reader–learn its history and purpose.