From Burks (Walks Alone, 1998, etc.), the fact-based story of an ex-slave turned cowboy; the historical details are riveting but the characterizations and plotting are not. George McJunkin, a teenager recently freed from slavery, and trained to ride horses and rope by Senor Valarde, joins a cattle drive from Comanche, Texas, to Abilene, Kansas. Along the way he encounters prejudice, saves the life of one of his fellow drivers, is bitten by a rattlesnake, sees a lynching, begins to learn to read, and survives storm, stampede, and possibly hostile Indians to win the respect of his boss and crew. The particulars of life on the trail and the hardships of the job are fascinating; Burks paints a vivid picture of the tension, adventure, and tedium that are all part of the cowboy’s lot. The motives ascribed to the characters, however, don’t always make sense. Senor Valarde threatens to quit unless the trail boss, who already has a full crew, hires George; the trail boss not only has no hard feelings, but then fires the wrangler—or wrango—for drunkenness and gives the inexperienced George the job. A mean-spirited bigot, Charley, becomes abruptly faithful and kind after George saves his life, just one of the several instances in which the veracity in the setting and details is not matched by credible characters or plotting. (b&w photos, map, glossary, bibliography) (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-201815-8
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1999
Taking a page from Avi’s The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (1990), Kehret (I’m Not Who You Think I Am, p. 223, etc.) pens a similar story of a girl who goes to sea. Determined not to be separated from her seriously ill mother, Emma, 12, embarks on a plan that results in the adventure of a lifetime. Sent to live with Aunt Martha and her arrogant son, Odolf, Emma carefully plots her escape. Disguising herself in her cousin’s used clothes, she sneaks out while the household slumbers and stows away on what she believes to be a ship carrying her parents from England to the warmer climate of France. Instead, the ship is the evil, ill-fated Black Lightning, under the command of the notorious Captain Beacon. Emma finds herself sharing quarters with a crew of filthy, surly, dangerous men. When a fierce storm swamps the ship, Emma desperately seizes her chance to escape, drifting for several days and nights aboard a hatch cover and finally carried to land somewhere on the coast of Africa. Hungry, thirsty, and alone, Emma faces the daunting prospect of slow starvation, but survives due to a relationship she builds with a band of chimpanzees. This page-turning adventure story shows evidence of solid research and experienced plotting—the pacing is breathless. Kehret paints a starkly realistic portrait, complete with sounds and smells of the difficult and unpleasant life aboard ship. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-671-03416-2
Page Count: 138
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
PLB 0-531-33140-7 Ketcham’s first book is based on an allegedly true story of a childhood incident in the life of Johann Sebastian Bach. It starts with a couple of pages regaling the Bach home and all the Johanns in the family, who made their fame through music. After his father’s death, Johann Sebastian goes to live with his brother, Johann Christoph, where he boasts that he is the best organist in the world. Johann Christoph contradicts him: “Old Adam Reincken is the best.” So Johann Sebastian sets out to hear the master himself. In fact, he is humbled to tears, but there is hope that he will be the world’s best organist one day. Johann Sebastian emerges as little more than a brat, Reincken as more of a suggestion than a character. Bush’s illustrations are most transporting when offering details of the landscape, but his protagonist is too impish to give the story much authority. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-531-30140-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1999
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