From Publishers Weekly
Readers drawn to pioneer adventure will not be disappointed by this fast-paced novel set in Ohio during the 1800s. The action begins when Ezra, a mysterious stranger, leads 11-year-old Nathan Fowler and his younger sister Molly to a primitive shelter, where the children's father is recovering from an injury. Along the way, Ezra, Nathan and Molly catch a glimpse of the devilish man called Weasel, whose treacherous deeds have terrified the settlers. It soon becomes apparent that Weasel stole Mr. Fowler's gun, left him to die in an animal trap and later killed most of the Fowlers' livestock. When finally meeting Weasel face to face, Nathan has a chance to avenge these cruel acts, but cannot bring himself to murder Weasel. Although DeFelice's ( The Strange Night Writing of Jessamine Colter ) prose is at times moralistic, she effectively conveys the battle between good and evil. The novel's resolution is perhaps a bit too neat; nonetheless, the book succeeds in building tension and revealing thought-provoking ideas about human frailties and the struggle to accept unpleasant truths. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7-- Nathan Fowler, 11, narrates a short, exciting story of his adventures in 1839 Ohio--a year in which he faces grave physical danger and arrives at mature moral decisions. Nathan and his younger sister, Molly, fear that misfortune has befallen their father, who has not returned from a hunting expedition. Ezra, a wild-looking, tongueless man, appears at the cabin and beckons them to follow him into the woods. He leads them to their father, who had been wounded in an animal trap and left for dead by a white Indian hunter called Weasel. Nathan is captured by the villainous Weasel, but escapes when the man is in a drunken stupor. Forever after, Nathan reproaches himself for not killing Weasel when he had the chance, but when he attempts to settle the score later on, he realizes that vengeance is not up to him, and that the manly deed sometimes involves patiently waiting for nature to take its course. Written in spare, vivid language, often poetic, the novel is plausible historic fiction that deals with the inhumane treatment of native Americans from a different angle--by turning the brutal results of hate back on the white race itself. The character of Nathan is unforgettable. --Yvonne Frey, Illinois Central College, East Peoria
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
