Wearing a black derby hat, Mr. Farris hands Gwendy a box covered with buttons and levers. 

She’s a rising middle schooler battling a bit of chubbiness, spending the summer of 1974 eating less and walking the long path of the Suicide Stairs. There, she encounters Mr. Farris and his button box.

He offers it to her. She pulls a small lever, she receives a small chocolate so delicious she doesn’t feel like eating any sweets. Another doodad, she receives an 1800s silver dollar. 

Mr. Farris warns other buttons represent continents. Push any of these buttons and something horrible could happen in the respective region. Push the black button, and well, something terribly horrible could happen.

He leaves Gwendy with responsibility and promise of the button box. Gwendy does not gain weight, her popularity rises, her academics improve … But she grows to dread those other buttons.

Stephen King and Richard Chizmar write a fast-paced summer novella. A quick taste of King and his fictional setting of Castle Rock. 

It feels like a youth book but readers should be warned there is language and adult situations as Gwendy grows up.

“Gwendy’s Button Box” is a choice well worth choosing.