Tucket's Ride (Francis Tucket Books)

Francis Tucket and his adopted family, Lottie and Billy, are heading west in search of Francis's parents on the Oregon Trail. But when winter comes early, Francis turns south to avoid the cold, and leads them right into enemy territory. The United States and Mexico are at war, and Francis, Lottie, and Billy are captured by the most ruthless band of outlaws Francis has ever seen. Loyalty, endurance, and the element of surprise offer hope for their survival in Tucket's Ride, the third book about Francis Tucket.

Grade 4-6. Paulsen's saga of the (often) lone boy on the American frontier in the 1840s continues here at a breakneck pace. It is now two years after Francis was abducted by the Wicked Pawnee and then saved by the Wily Mountain Man Jason Grimes in Mr. Tucket (Delacorte, 1994). He and the two orphans he picked up in Call Me Francis Tucket (Delacorte, 1995) are now trying to get to Oregon via Mexico and accidentally get tangled with armies pursuing the Mexican War. No sooner does Francis escape execution for killing a soldier than the three youngsters fall into the hands of the dreaded Comancheros. No disaster lasts long for Francis, though. Grimes, his savior from the first book, suddenly appears out of nowhere and saves him again with the same plot device. (Hey, it worked the first time.) Readers leave Francis and the two orphans hiding from their vengeful pursuers. What happens then? Wait for the next book. Chapters consist of three or four short pages with cliffhanger endings. Characters and scenes change almost from page to page. People are introduced with a line or two of explanation only to disappear a few paragraphs later. As a result, character development is necessarily sacrificed and stereotypes abound. Many readers will love these books for their exciting, nonstop action. Classroom use for social studies, however, would require careful and critical analysis by teachers and students.?Ruth Semrau, formerly at Lovejoy School, Allen, TX
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Another entry in the ongoing saga of young Francis Tucket (Call Me Francis Tucket, 1995, etc.) and his adventures after being separated from his parents' wagon train. He is still saddled with two young children he rescued after their parents died of cholera. Francis protects a Mexican woman from an attack by an American soldier, nearly gets hung by the soldier's commander, and is captured by the brutal Comancheros during the war between the US and Mexico. Like its predecessors, this novel wanders all over the map, but it's nicely crammed with nonstop adventure. The serialized publication, sheer number of Dickensian coincidences, characters, and incidents, as well as the innocence of the main character, makes this read like Nicholas Nickleby, set in in the Old West. Still, Paulsen proves himself nothing if not reliable--the pacing is flawless, the prose seemingly effortless, and the pages just fly by. (Fiction. 10+) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Gr. 4^-7. The third book featuring Francis Tucket (Mr. Tucket, 1994, and Call Me Francis Tucket, 1995) finds the resourceful 15-year-old traveling west with orphans Lottie and Billy, whom he rescued in the previous book. Although their destination is Oregon, where Francis' parents have probably settled, the three have been sidetracked by winter weather and the Rocky Mountains and end up far southwest in Mexican territory. After he kills a U.S. Cavalry soldier in self-defense, Francis and the children are captured by a marauding band of Comancheros, rescued by Francis' old friend Mr. Grimes, and finally head off again for Oregon. As always, Paulsen's hero struggles to survive in the face of several near-death experiences, though in this story, humans, rather than nature, are the enemy. This quick, satisfying read for adventure enthusiasts will be popular with readers of the earlier titles. Kay Weisman