CACTUS KEVIN

by B. Holland Heck ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 20, 1965

The jacket's back flap notes that one of the author's sons shared many of the incidents that the title character of this book lives through. This may be responsible for the heavily anecdotal quality of this book. Cactus Kevin never emerges as a figure on his own. He's observed around the ranch, at just about the depth a mother can achieve by looking out the window. . . . Even though this isn't the book Millie (1961) was, it is nevertheless pleasant and should enjoy a strong regional market. It takes place in eastern Oklahoma in the early years of W.W. II when Kevin's family bought a small ranch, determined to make it succeed. Kevin's father is at work all day in a war industry so Kevin must cope with many chores after school. He isn't exactly a city slicker, but he is a tenderfoot, and everything is complicated by the fact that the well's run dry and water must be hauled and rationed. Poor Kevin was better at forgetting than anything else and soon began to think that everything that went wrong was his fault. But he tried and good parents put minor disasters into perspective and the boy grew, the well got dug and the ranch prospered. Not many books around about this period, this place.

Pub Date: Sept. 20, 1965

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: World

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1965

Categories: FICTION