Review of Afoot: The Great Dakota Turkey Drive, by George BradsbergReviewed by Tom Roth, Interlibrary Loan, State Library of KansasAfoot: The Great Dakota Turkey Drive by George Bradsberg. Cedartip Press, Manhattan, Kansas 2006. 173 p. $22.80. www.cedartip.com In 1876, the parents of Joshua and Lucinda Greene were killed in the Great Chicago fire while on a trip to that city to buy a new stove for their prosperous bakery in Kankakee, Illinois. Thirteen-year-old Joshua and seventeen-year-old Lucinda find their new guardian, Uncle Asa, to be a mean and evil man. Lucinda is put to work in the home of a cruel, wealthy family. Josh is put to work in his evil uncle’s pig farm. Lucinda runs away to Iowa, then into Pierre, South Dakota, and then into Deadwood in the Black Hills. Joshua runs away to find her, only to find she is always a step ahead of him. In Pierre, he is taken up with a foul-mouthed trail herder who is taking over 800 turkeys to Deadwood. This turns out to be a great adventure for Josh, who must grow up fast. He has to cook, herd turkeys on foot and contend with wild Indians and robbers until he can get to Deadwood to find out if his sister is still there. This is a wonderful story based on the real events of livestock herding of the time period. The characters are all quite believable and the reader will find the tales about herding the turkeys both funny and interesting. I would recommend this book as a nice, fun read for anyone and it would be appropriate for all Kansas libraries. This would be a really good choice for a young adult collection as well. |
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