George MacDonald 
Gutta Percha Willie 

The story of an industrious young boy who seeks to bring goodness to the world—from the nineteenth-century Scottish author of Ranald Bannerman’s Boyhood. While still editing the magazine Good Words for the Young,  Mac Donald wrote this second “boy’s novel, ” unconnected with but written for a similar audience as Ranald Bannerman’s story. Inventive young Willie Macmichael turns everything about him to creative uses, hungrily learning from the grown-ups around him, prompting Mac Donald’s subtitle, “The Working Genius.” Though one of Mac Donald’s lesser-known titles, editor Michael Phillips comments, “Mac Donald’s strongest and most eternal contribution to the world lies in the realm of spiritual practicality. Willie epitomizes the practicality of growing into one’s place in God’s general business. This story therefore deserves to be considered one of Mac Donald’s memorable portrayals of that eternal imperative. I love this book!” Gutta Percha Willie was Mac Donald’s only book published in 1873, released while he was on a lecture tour in America.