Jim-Dandy

From Publishers Weekly In prose as spare as it is evocative, Irwin ( The Original Freddie Ackerman ) crafts a moving introduction to the savage "winning" of the American West. Isolated with his taciturn Quaker stepfather on a parched Western Kansas homestead, 13-year-old narrator Caleb's only confidant is Dandy, a spirited horse that he raised from a foal. Instructed by his savvy new neighbor Athens (who, he's surprised to discover, is a girl), Caleb trains the skittish colt while Webb, his stepfather, is away for the summer working on the Santa Fe Trail. In autumn, desperately needing cash once again, Webb sells Dandy to Custer's Seventh Cavalry at Fort Hays. Caleb runs away to Fort Hays, where, as "Dandy's boy," he earns his keep as a groom for the new mount of the self-styled "General" (actually, colonel) and his wife. Caleb's romance with army life comes to a brutal end when he observes firsthand the massacre of the Cheyenne--and the slaughter of some 800 of their ponies--at the Battle of the Washita. "It didn't make sense why women and children got shot. . . . Wars were supposed to be what men did to each other," says the horrified youth. Irwin's themes are thoughtfully developed and well worth pondering. Ages 10-14. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal Grade 5-8-After Caleb's father died in the Civil War, his mother remarried a fellow-Quaker, Webb, who took the family west to Kansas. When she dies, 12-year-old Caleb gives his affection to a foal. Horse lovers will delight in the growth of their special bond as spirited Dandy grows; is halter-broken; takes the boy on a wild night ride; and the two of them race with a young Cheyenne, Hawk, and his pony. But in the second half of the book, the tone changes. Webb sells Dandy to Colonel Custer, Caleb runs away to be with his horse, and the two of them are plunged into the bloody battle of Washita, where Hawk is one of the first to die. Sick of death, Caleb tries to run away with Dandy, but when the animal hears the bugle, he harkens to its call and returns to his new master. A note explains that the story is based on a real mount Custer bought from a Kansas farmer. The ending seems abrupt because readers are so rooted in Caleb's voice that, like the boy himself, they miss the foreshadowing of Dandy's lust for battle. Ultimately, this is a coming-of-age story about love and loss. A thought-provoking read that's sure to promote discussion.