City of Gold by Will Hobbs - ADVISABLE

City of Gold by Will Hobbs, 256 pages.  Harper Collins, 2020.  $16.99

Language:  PG (1 swear, 0 ‘f’); Mature Content:  PG; Violence:  PG

BUYING ADVISORY:  MS - ADVISABLE

AUDIENCE APPEAL:  HIGH

15yo Owen heard the whinnies of the two family mules, but he was not roused from sleep until after the mules’ whinnies had changed to squeals. This was the beginning of what would become a long journey for Owen to try to retrieve the mules which had been taken from the barn.  His family had recently moved from Kansas to a farm in Colorado, and their whole family livelihood depended on the mules.  The search would take Owen to mining towns and the “City of Gold”; and it would take him to Robbers Roost and its connections with Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch.  His tenacious, 9yo brother, Till, does not want to be left behind!

Owen’s story is continually moving.  It provides connections for the past and the future of the characters that you won’t want to miss.  It is an adventure, as well as a source of historical facts and fiction.  It does have mostly inadvertent references to tobacco, alcohol, and guns; and, thus, the buying advisory of “Middle School” is indicated. The minimally few direct references have been well-managed.  I, personally, wanted to continue reading this book. The nonfiction information has left me wanting to learn more. 

ReneeCW