Monday, April 14, 2014

Goldtown Adventures


I received a copy of CANYON OF DANGER and RIVER OF PERIL by Susan K. Marlow from Kregel.  They are books three and four in the Goldtown Adventures series. 

When they first arrived in the mail, my mother happened to be opening packages and exclaimed over the covers.  She asked if she could read them as soon as I was done.  Now that I’ve finished them, I’ve passed them on to her, and after that they’ll go to my young cousin.  The novels are juvenile fiction that take place in 1864 when Jem Coulter is twelve-years-old.  His name won me over since those are my initials and I’m sometimes called Jem by friends.

In CANYON OF DANGER, Jem is in charge of the ranch while his father, the sheriff, is away.  What could go wrong does, sometimes with hilarious situations.  The book also involved the pony express.  I’d heard about it before, but I liked how it was worked into this story.

In RIVER OF PERIL, Jem is after bandits.  The historical detail is vibrant and the characters are real.  From a teacher aspect, these books are perfect for introducing middle grade readers to the Wild West.  I kept imagining lessons and activities to go along with the chapters. 

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