A Little Bit Dead (Laurel-Leaf Books) - Softcover

Reaver, Herbert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0440219108 ISBN 13: 9780440219101

Publisher: Laurel Leaf, 1994

Synopsis

Saving a Yahi brave, Shanti, from being hanged by a group of renegade lawmen, Reece finds his life complicated when one of the hangmen is shot, Reece is charged with the murder, and Shanti pays a high price by testifying for him. Reprint.

About this title

From School Library Journal

Grade 8-12--A Little Bit Dead is a little bit hokey, but overall it's a charming story of the old West. When 18-year-old Reece lumbers out of the mountains after trapping all winter, he finds himself unavoidably saving the life of a young Indian, Shanti. The bad guys don't like having their prey snatched away, especially when they believe Shanti has the map to a lost horde of gold. But worse trouble arises when one of them is murdered and Reece is blamed. That's the main plot; the two subplots are the whore-with-the-heart-of-gold and the doomed battle of the Indians to fend off the white man. It is not difficult to figure out how all this will turn out, but suspense is not the reason to read this book. The plot is highly melodramatic and slow in places, but its quirky humor carries it right over the rough spots and there is more than enough action to satisfy any reader. It is earthy in places, but Reece is such an innocent guy that he blushes in the right places. He comes fully to life, although none of the secon dary characters do, with the delightful excep tion of his horse, Packy. The theme definitely imposes modern attitudes on a far different era, but the friendship between the Indian boy and the white boy rings so true that Reaver neatly sidesteps the trap of didacticism. A sparkling book with a serious message. -- Kathy Fritts, Jesuit High School, Portland, OR
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Publishers Weekly

A teenager in 1876 gets more than he bargained for when he saves an Indian from hanging; PW said in a starred review, "Reaver has fashioned a complex, tightly woven tale that moves through scene after gripping scene with surefooted grace." Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Laurel Leaf
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0440219108
• ISBN 13: 9780440219101
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 240