Harris and Me is a book that celebrates mischief. It looks with an adolescent's instinctive excitement at activities that many adults would correct or punish a child for. Me knows that no adult would approve of his possession of "dourty peectures" but he is at an age when "hormones . . . dominate my every waking moment," and he finds them useful barter items. Both boys play with abandon in the muck and manure of the barnyard; they may be grossed out by the smell and touch, but they are delightedly grossed out. With normal adolescent curiosity, the pair test cigarettes but find they are not physically prepared for the results.

And of course, such activities usually require a fib or two to disguise them from the adult world.

One hilarious scene, in which Me goads Harris into urinating on an electric fence, has the potential to scandalize some...