Sooner

From School Library Journal Grade 4-7AFans of historical fiction in general and readers of Bigger (S & S, 1994) in particular will appreciate this sequel named for that dog's offspring. As Sooner opens, the Civil War has ended, but Black Jack Bohannon has refused to accept defeat and has headed south of the border with a small band of rebels. His son, 13-year-old Tyler, tries to come to terms with his father's decision not to return home and to becoming the man of the family. They eventually learn via a letter that Bohannon has died in Brazil. By novel's end, Tyler and Isaac Peerce, a former slave, are "lighting out," with Sooner in tow, for the Western territories to make their own way in the world. In between, Tyler deals with scalawags, learns that the Emancipation Proclamation didn't necessarily change anybody's heart, and resists his widowed mother's interest in remarriage. On the one hand, Tyler is a well-drawn, likable protagonist, and the plot moves along at a nice clip. On the other, Calvert's narrative voice tends toward melodrama, and complicated problems are often resolved fairly easily. In between, the author creates a real sense of place and time through carefully selected period details.ACoop Renner, Coldwell Elementary-Intermediate School, El Paso, TXCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Kirkus Reviews Having traveled all the way to Texas in a vain effort to persuade his father to come back to Missouri, Tyler, 13, discovers, resists, and ultimately embraces the inevitability of change in this strong, simple sequel to Bigger (1994). Driven by the hope that Black Jack Bohannon will come back on his own one day, Tyler, his mother, and brother work to keep the farm going. That hope is snuffed when ex-slave Isaac Peerce reappears, bearing proof that Black Jack is dead. Tyler had always expected to live and die on the farm, but loses his position as man of the house when his mother marries widower Elway Snepp. It's time to head west, andlike father, like sonTyler never looks back. Calvert peoples her story with a mix of likable characters both steady and hot-headed, not the least of which is the dog for whom this book is named. She recaps the earlier book in detail, sets the larger postCivil War scene with a historical foreword and an afterword, and gives Tyler's change of heart believable reasons and pacing. (Fiction. 10-12) --