From School Library Journal
Grade 4-7?Eliza Yates is 12 years old in 1887 when she runs away from her cruel aunt and uncle and sets off for Tinville, Colorado, in search of her missing father. After being accosted by a tramp, she disguises herself as a boy, and it is "Elijah Bates" who meets up with Calvin Featherbone, an 18-year-old who calls himself the "Gentleman Outlaw." He is also headed for Tinville, in search of that town's Sheriff Yates, a man he believes shot his father in the back. The two join forces, though it is soon obvious both to Eliza and readers that Calvin is a greenhorn who will do nothing but get them into scrapes with his fool ideas. Hahn has obviously done her research, and succeeds in bringing the ambiance of the Old West to her novel. The result is a fast, funny, and entertaining adventure that's just the thing for fans of "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman."?Elizabeth Mellett, Brookline Public Library, MA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Hardcover
édition.
From Booklist
Gr. 5^-8. The plot isn't new: orphan girl Eliza Yates cuts her hair, wears boys' clothes, changes her name to make people think she's a boy, and travels West to find her missing father. Along the way, she saves Calvin Featherbone, a young man who fancies himself a con artist. Together, they make their way to Tinville, Colorado, where, coincidentally, Calvin's father was killed by a certain Sheriff Yates. Calvin plans to avenge the murder, but he gets himself and Eliza in so much trouble with his amateurish schemes that the pair arrives in town ready to be hanged as horse thieves. Hahn's writing crackles like gunshot in the Ol' West, and Eliza and Calvin make a lovable team. The plotting is completely predictable, but it's tight and fast paced, and Hahn does a fine job of recreating the atmosphere of the days of cowboys and miners.
Susan Dove Lempke
--Ce texte provient de la
Hardcover
édition.
