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THE SUN, THE RAIN, AND THE APPLE SEED

Name: THE SUN, THE RAIN, AND THE APPLE SEED
Author: Lynda Durrant
ISBN: 0-618-23487-X

A NOVEL OF JOHNNY APPLESEED’S LIFE

by Lynda Durrant ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 24, 2003

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Environmentalist, pacifist, vegetarian, religious devotee, visionary, nut—John Chapman, a.k.a. Johnny Appleseed, was all these, and possibly the latter most of all. The fact that, as Durrant proposes, he “wasn’t right in the head” led her, she says in an afterword, to cast Chapman’s life in novel form so that she could deal better than biographers have with Chapman’s seeing, hearing, and conversing with angels and spirits. Readers will learn some interesting and perhaps hitherto-unknown facts about Johnny besides these. For example, he regularly quoted Bible verses extensively to one and all even in the course of ordinary conversation; once, in order to warn settlers of an impending Indian raid, he ran nonstop through the wilderness for three days and nights and thus saved many lives; he talked himself out of being murdered by Seneca villagers and was thereafter honored and afforded safe passage by them; he lost several toes and fingers to frostbite from his decades of wandering through the forests; toward the end of his life, he spent nine months in an Ohio jail for nonpayment of taxes; and he may have met the young Abraham Lincoln. Unfortunately, in order to reach these passages, readers will have to slog through stilted writing (an uneven mix of the author’s attempt at capturing the period style and Johnny’s voice) and minutiae that testify to Durrant’s extensive research into the historical record but that make for some lackluster reading. Johnny Appleseed’s life is one to be admired, despite his many eccentricities. Gentle-hearted, he was committed to respect for and kindness toward nature and all living things. This is unlikely to be the apple of anyone’s eye. Stick to good biographies. (afterword, bibliography) (Fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: March 24, 2003

ISBN: 0-618-23487-X

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Clarion Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2003

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
IMPERFECTIONS
by Lynda Durrant

- BOOK REVIEW
MY LAST SKIRT
by Lynda Durrant

- BOOK REVIEW
BETSY ZANE
by Lynda Durrant

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THE SEVENTH MOST IMPORTANT THING

by Shelley Pearsall ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 8, 2015

Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

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Traumatized by his father’s recent death, a boy throws a brick at an old man who collects junk in his neighborhood and winds up on probation working for him.

Pearsall bases the book on a famed real work of folk art, the Throne of the Third Heaven, by James Hampton, a janitor who built his work in a garage in Washington, D.C., from bits of light bulbs, foil, mirrors, wood, bottles, coffee cans, and cardboard—the titular seven most important things. In late 1963, 13-year-old Arthur finds himself looking for junk for Mr. Hampton, who needs help with his artistic masterpiece, begun during World War II. The book focuses on redemption rather than art, as Hampton forgives the fictional Arthur for his crime, getting the boy to participate in his work at first reluctantly, later with love. Arthur struggles with his anger over his father’s death and his mother’s new boyfriend. Readers watch as Arthur transfers much of his love for his father to Mr. Hampton and accepts responsibility for saving the art when it becomes endangered. Written in a homespun style that reflects the simple components of the artwork, the story guides readers along with Arthur to an understanding of the most important things in life.

Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)