A Different Kind of Hero

In 1881, twelve-year-old Renny, who resists his father's efforts to turn him into a rough, tough, brawling boy, earns the disapproval of the entire mining camp when he befriends a newly arrived Chinese boy

Grade 4-6?In 1881 in a gold-mining town in Colorado, 12-year-old Renny Sholto struggles to be faithful to his own feelings. His father, a leader among the Irish immigrant miners, has a volatile temper and is always ready to throw a punch. Renny is a tranquil youngster with a natural sympathy for others. Into this milieu steps Wong Gum Zi, whose father is a servant in the home of the new owner of one of the gold mines. When the boy is brought to the school for admission, the teacher greets him with outright prejudice and the warning that Chinese are not welcome. As circumstances force Miss Steele to accept the new student, Renny, at first reluctantly, is the only one to befriend him. Although he knows that this will infuriate his father, who fears the influx of Chinese to the mine, the boy sticks to his decision because he empathizes with the stranger's loneliness. The mine owner then agrees not to hire Chinese immigrants in exchange for Zi's safety. This story of friendship, hardship, and many forms of prejudice has a well-drawn main character and realistic conflict rooted in historic detail. The anger between father and son is resolved, and they reach an understanding after some convenient twists in the story. That shortcoming aside, this is a worthwhile selection that will heighten youngsters' awareness of a complex period of history.?Renee Steinberg, Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, NJ
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

In a novel that is a near-perfect combination of brutal realism and piercing lyricism, the kindhearted son of a brawling miner becomes a pariah in his lawless frontier mining town when he befriends a Chinese immigrant boy, Zi. Renny's friends have become his enemies, and both he and Zi are beaten; Renny's father wants his son to become a two-fisted fighter, and forbids the friendship. A strike over the arrest of the local priest leads to inflamed tempers, a riot is brewing, and Renny's efforts to protect his friend may cost him his family. Blakeslee maintains a clipped pace but also develops a clear picture of a frontier town and Renny's internal struggles, caught between his father and his conscience. Among the major characters there are no cardboard villains; Blakeslee, who has an eye out for the good to be found in everyone, comes perilously close to turning Zi and his family into saints, but skirts it by showing the boy's empathy, which he expresses in his journal. A powerful story of good vs. good intentions. (Fiction. 10-14) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.