"I was expecting
an over-written tearjerker with an obvious plot and a sappy ending. Well, I'm
the sap, because this is a tight, assured and seemingly effortless piece that
captures honestly and authentically a time, a place, and a kid's deepest hope
and desire.
"The summary above fairly sets out the premise of the story. It almost gives away too much, but that's O.K. because the real pleasure here is in the writing rather than the plot. You know all those horse crazy girl books? The ones that keep telling you the girls are horse crazy even though they don't really do or say anything that makes it feel like they like horses? Well, this book subtly and movingly outlines and then fills in what it's like to be a kid whose best friend is an animal. Eleven year old Jed knows Dusty and loves Dusty and cares for Dusty and yearns to be with Dusty. In all of the most meaningful ways for a kid Dusty is his friend.
"And we are on a farm and it is 1948. You can see it and you can feel it. When Jed is haying, you are out there. You are in the barn. You are at the fair. You are at the horse auction. And each is accompanied by little grace notes that enrich the story. (Jed walks into a barn early in the morning when the animals are awake but not yet stirring. "Their breathing made the barn smell even better." Jed looks at them and they watch him and Jed notes that, "I don't mind animals looking at me. They don't try to change things.")
"There is palpable tension at the auction, and honest emotion sketched with just a few lines. This is elegant and rewarding writing.
"It just seems to me that any kid reading this is going to come away with not only a good story but also with a sense, probably unrealized, that they've read something good. How can you do better than that?
"(By the way, if you search "Sold to the Highest Bidder" on Amazon without the author's name, the first thing you'll get is a shirtless cowboy romance by the same name. Don't buy the wrong book; I don't think that one is for kids.)
"Please note that I found this book while browsing Amazon Kindle freebies. I have no connection at all to the author or the publisher of this book."
"The summary above fairly sets out the premise of the story. It almost gives away too much, but that's O.K. because the real pleasure here is in the writing rather than the plot. You know all those horse crazy girl books? The ones that keep telling you the girls are horse crazy even though they don't really do or say anything that makes it feel like they like horses? Well, this book subtly and movingly outlines and then fills in what it's like to be a kid whose best friend is an animal. Eleven year old Jed knows Dusty and loves Dusty and cares for Dusty and yearns to be with Dusty. In all of the most meaningful ways for a kid Dusty is his friend.
"And we are on a farm and it is 1948. You can see it and you can feel it. When Jed is haying, you are out there. You are in the barn. You are at the fair. You are at the horse auction. And each is accompanied by little grace notes that enrich the story. (Jed walks into a barn early in the morning when the animals are awake but not yet stirring. "Their breathing made the barn smell even better." Jed looks at them and they watch him and Jed notes that, "I don't mind animals looking at me. They don't try to change things.")
"There is palpable tension at the auction, and honest emotion sketched with just a few lines. This is elegant and rewarding writing.
"It just seems to me that any kid reading this is going to come away with not only a good story but also with a sense, probably unrealized, that they've read something good. How can you do better than that?
"(By the way, if you search "Sold to the Highest Bidder" on Amazon without the author's name, the first thing you'll get is a shirtless cowboy romance by the same name. Don't buy the wrong book; I don't think that one is for kids.)
"Please note that I found this book while browsing Amazon Kindle freebies. I have no connection at all to the author or the publisher of this book."
Now if only that were written in the New York Times! But I'm still glowing.
