In the tradition of Nat Love comes a fictional black cowpoke, Prometheus Jones, and his best buddy, Omer Shine, escaping from a lynch mob in Tennessee to a Kansas cattle drive on its way to the Dakota Territory during the chaotic years following the end of the Civil War. Prometheus is anxious to get to Texas where clues about his missing father lead him, but he sees the advantages of throwing in with Beck, the drover in charge of the cattle herd. Not that he knows much about cattle, but he can break almost any horse and is determined to learn. The adventures are nonstop, with mentions of Custer and warring Pawnee and Sioux Indians adding to the excitement and danger of buffalo stampedes and river crossings. While most of the characters enjoy three-dimensional treatment, the Indians come across as insubstantial by comparison, demonstrating the difficulties in accurately reflecting attitudes of the day in light of present-day awareness. The prejudice against blacks remains threatening and constant, and Prometheus’s transformation into Deadwood is convincing, even when insurmountable odds seem stacked against him. (Historical fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-1-59078-637-6
Page Count: 234
Publisher: Front Street/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In this tardy sequel to 1971’s Incident at Hawk’s Hill, seven-year-old Ben MacDonald is again lost, this time on huge Lake Winnipeg, then rescued by Metis Indians, into whose uniformly noble hearts he strikes awe with his amazing ability to communicate with animals. After recapping the events leading to the death of the beloved female badger, Eckert starts the new story with its burial, then advances nine months where a chance encounter with brutal trader George Burton sends Ben scrambling for cover. Only too late does he discover that the boat he borrows is oarless; helplessly, he drifts down the Red River into open water. Fortunately, a young hunter spots him, and soon Ben is lodged with the Metis, settlers of mixed Cree and French descent, studying long lists of multisyllabic Cree words. Meanwhile, Ben’s family searches for him frantically. Eckert is not one for complex characterization, either personal or cultural; Burton is dirty, violent, and cowardly, while Ben is so saintly that he is adopted into a family as Ka Kakekinit, the “Chosen One.” The point of view switches often, allowing for only rare glimpses of the lyrical descriptions of the natural world for which Eckert is known. In the end, the MacDonalds are reunited, Burton is decisively run off, and Ben’s father apologizes for his previously expressed prejudice against “half-breeds.” This bland and simplistic wilderness adventure responds to—without satisfying—readers who wanted to know “What happened next?” (map) (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: May 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-316-21593-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Loosely basing her story on an early slave narrative, the author of Which Way Freedom? (1986) and other evocations of the African-American experience describes the trials and triumphs of an Ashanti chieftain's son who is sold into slavery, transported to postcolonial Massachusetts (where slavery is outlawed, but frequently tolerated), and finally set free by Paul Cuffe, the black shipbuilder and captain. Though young Kofi is roughly treated, Hansen's book doesn't center on horrifying incidents (unlike Paulsen's Nightjohn or Berry's Ajeemah and His Son, both 1992); she focuses on Kofi's confusion at being surrounded by strange sights and people he cannot understand. If the plot follows an easy course—Kofi quickly learns to read and speak English, wins freedom from his master in court, later meets and marries a girl he knew in Africa, grows up to be a ship's pilot, and sees his homeland again—Kofi's pride and outrage still come through clearly, while the practices of the slave trade, in both Africa and New England, are explored in unusual detail. Readable and perceptive. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-590-41625-1
Page Count: 195
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1993
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