Hoggee - Softcover

Myers, Anna

3.67

42 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0802796834 ISBN 13: 9780802796837

Publisher: Walker Childrens, 2007

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Howard Gardner is starving to death. All spring and summer, Howard and his older, more charming brother Jack worked as hoggees, driving the mules that pulled boats along the Erie Canal. In a misguided attempt to outshine his brother, Howard chooses to stay behind in Birchport for the winter to save his traveling money and send it home to his family. After his winter job falls through, Howard fears that he might not survive the winter.
As desperate as Howard is, he is haunted by the sadness he sees in the eyes of Sarah, the granddaughter of the man who keeps the mules. Even though she's older than her two sisters, she never speaks, and she seems completely disconnected from the world. Sarah's family won't discuss her problem with outsiders, but Howard longs to help her in any way he can, and his quest to do so eventually reveals to him how he truly compares to his brother.
Once again, Anna Myers has crafted a moving, nuanced coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of an intriguing historical era.

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About the Author:

ANNA MYERS is the author of more than one dozen books for Walker & Company, including, most recently Confessions from the Principal's Chair. Tulsa Burning was a New York Public Library Book for the Teen Age, and Assassin was an Oklahoma Book Award winner. Anna lives in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Visit her Web site at www.annamyers.info

From School Library Journal:

Grade 5-7–Howard's poor judgment has gotten him in trouble before, but refusing to accompany his older brother home has meant sleeping with mules for warmth all winter and fighting dogs for scraps of food. The promised position as a kitchen boy at an inn in Birchport, NY, has been snatched by a rival, and Howard's usual job as a hoggee (driving mules that pull Erie Canal boats) won't begin until water is allowed back in the canal in the spring. Starved and miserable as he is, he can't help wondering what is wrong with one of three granddaughters of a man who has befriended him. When Howard discovers that Sarah is a deaf mute, he vows to help her even though he doesn't know how. Adult characters often form hard opinions and quickly change them to service the plot. However, Howard and Sarah are well drawn and winsome while Jack, who alternately prods and champions his younger brother, is appealing. When Howard discovers sign language and his natural teaching ability, readers become fully invested in his story and will definitely be rooting for him. An interesting pairing would be Clara Gillow Clark's Nellie Bishop (Boyds Mills, 2003), which is also about battling poverty in a canal town, but viewed through a girl's struggle.–Cindy Darling Codell, Clark Middle School, Winchester, KY
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