Louella Bryant

ISBN-13: 9781684333004. COWBOY CODE ~ Crazy about cowboy movies, fourteen-year-old Bobbie Grey uses Gene Autry’s code of honor as her moral guide. When her father is killed in an explosion at the paper mill, her mother takes a job at the mill and becomes enamored with co-worker Phoenix. Bobbie yearns for her mother’s attention while secretly in love with Covey, a young boxer from the African settlement. Burr, a Navy man on leave, woos Maggie and when he ships out, Phoenix declares her love for Maggie and becomes Bobbie’s ally. When Bobbie takes forbidden walks to the African settlement, Covey’s family takes her in. During the night, Klansmen come for Covey and beat him, accusing him of prowling. Phoenix begs Maggie to leave Burr but she refuses until she discovers him with another woman. From Phoenix, Bobbie learns that love transcends race and gender and that it sometimes requires the ultimate sacrifice—letting go.

ISBN-13: 9781937854607. WHILE IN DARKNESS THERE IS LIGHT ~ A look at the lives of five young men who, during the Vietnam era, start a commune in Australia—and a look at how young men often look to the wild to find themselves and the consequences this sometimes yields. The Rosebud Farm project was born of idealism, commitment, and virtue, all deeply rooted in friendships that have transcended distance and time. The men in this story, insulated by wealth and innocent of heart, were trying to make sense of a tumultuous world and trying to find some peace in it. One of these five young men was Charlie Dean, the brother of Howard Dean (who has written the introduction).

ISBN-13: 9781881535225. THE BLACK BONNET ~ Gr 8 Up-Charity and her older sister, Bea, are near the end of their journey along the Underground Railroad from Virginia to Montreal. They settle in at a "station" in Burlington, Vermont, to recover their health and to prepare for the last leg of their trip. As readers are drawn into the story, it is revealed that Charity's father is a plantation owner and that Bea is expecting the child of another white farmer. The young women make friends among the conductors' families and their fellow runaways. Burlington is crawling with slave hunters, and danger is imminent. Charity, because she is so light-skinned, goes into town wearing a black bonnet that ostensibly provides enough protection to allow her to "pass" as white. Bryant cleverly weaves real-life railroad conductors, such as Lucius Bigelow and Edward Peck, into the narrative, as well as famous escaped slaves, such as Harriet Tubman. Although the novel is suspenseful, some youngsters may have difficulty with the graphic descriptions of violence, some of which seems forced; the unrealistic plot elements; and the tension that arises from Charity's unnecessary adventures into "white" society. It is disturbing and preposterous that a fair-skinned former slave would parade through the streets directly in front of mercenary slave catchers.-Lucinda Lockwood, Thomas Haney Secondary School, Maple Ridge, BC

ISBN-13: 9781881535331. FATHER BY BLOOD ~ Gr 6-9-A straightforward portrayal of Annie, the young woman who followed her abolitionist father, John Brown, to Harper's Ferry to care for the men as they prepared to raid the United States Armory. Written from her perspective as an old woman, it is a daughter's attempt to come to peace with the memory of the stern, taciturn man who saw no disparity between his deep religious faith and his willingness to use violence. As far as he was concerned, God was on his side, and he went forth with his radical plan even if it divided his family or cost innocent lives. Many of the characters, especially Annie and her father, are less colorful or complex than those crafted by Ann Rinaldi in Mine Eyes Have Seen (Scholastic, 1997). Rinaldi's Annie accompanies her father, partly to gain approval from the distant family patriarch, whereas Bryant's goes because she cannot bear to be left behind by the young man she loves and her brother and his wife. Bryant's character is puzzled by her father, but Rinaldi's is in pain as she alternately loves, fears, obeys, and rebels against him. While this novel is competently written and the author shows promise, Rinaldi's is a far more gripping tale.-Peggy Morgan, The Library Network, Southgate, MI Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.