Publishers Weekly
The pioneer adventure story begun in Weasel ("a fast-paced novel," according to PW) continues with Bringing Ezra Back by Cynthia DeFelice. Twelve-year-old Nathan sets out from his Ohio farm in 1840 to rescue his friend Ezra, held captive by owners of a freak show in Western Pennsylvania. Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Children's Literature
- Judy DaPolito
This compelling tale set in eastern Ohio and western Pennsylvania in the year 1840 unfolds the quest of a twelve-year-old boy with a talent for the fiddle and a strong belief in doing what is right. The story begins when a peddler arrives at the isolated Ohio farm where Nathan Fowler lives with his widowed father and his ten-year-old sister Molly. One of the many items in Orrin Beckwith's pack is a pile of handbills, one of which advertises a traveling show starring a white Indian who has no tongue. When Nathan recognizes the man as Ezra, a white friend who had been mutilated by a vicious man named Weasel, he vows to find Ezra and bring him back. Though Nathan's father hates to let him go, he knows that Nathan has grown too suspicious of people since Weasel's attacks and he hopes this journey will increase his confidence. For the first few days while walking through the woods, playing his violin in towns to attract customers for Beckwith's goods, and having the gold piece his father gave him stolen, Nathan still sees people as either good or evil. But when he discovers that his new friend Beckwith stole the gold, he is faced with the awareness that people are indeed a mixture. Beckwith has been good company and remains pleasant after he gives Nathan his money back. But when they find the traveling show, Beckwith is afraid to risk confronting the owners. Nathan is afraid, too, but he is determined to free his friend even though Ezra is sunk so deep in starvation and despair that he is powerless. With the help of some of the other performers, Nathan leads Ezra away and does not back off when Hiram Trask chases them down and demands the return of his star attraction. Nathan talks Traskout of shooting him and bargains for Ezra's freedom with his gold piece. By the time he brings Ezra back, he has learned to read people's characters more accurately and has succeeded in his quest. The story's pioneer Midwest setting is strikingly depicted, and the characters in this sequel to Weasel are complex and believable.
VOYA
- Victoria Vogel
When a peddler named Orrin Beckwith shows up at the Fowlers' farm, he reveals a handbill that suggests to twelve-year-old Nathan that their friend Ezra is in danger. Orrin offers to allow Nathan to accompany him on his travels to find Ezra, and a wonderful adventure ensues. This story is a sequel to Weasel (Macmillan, 1990/VOYA June 1990), in which strange, tongueless Ezra helps the Fowler family deal with Weasel, a cruel man who hates the Shawnees and kills Ezra's Shawnee wife and unborn child. At the end of that book, Ezra disappears into the Ohio frontier to find his wife's people. This experience has left Nathan and his family reluctant to trust strangers, but his father urges Nathan to go along with Orrin to learn that not all strangers are evil. Their journey brings them to Western Pennsylvania, where they find a changed Ezra being held captive in a traveling freak show. He is now a broken man. It takes all of Nathan's courage and strength to pull off a rescue and bring Ezra back to Ohio and the people who care about him. DeFelice does a wonderful job of describing life on the Ohio frontier. It is an interesting story that captures readers who will enjoy the colorful character development. Nathan undergoes an internal struggle with trust, and Orrin is revealed as a kindhearted soul. Historical fiction fans in particular will enjoy this tale, although it might be a difficult sell to others.
School Library Journal
Gr 4-7-A worthy sequel to Weasel (S & S, 1990), DeFelice's beloved tale of Ohio's frontier in the 1840s. As that story ends, Nathan Fowler has experienced evil incarnate in the form of Weasel, a mercenary trained to hate the area's Shawnee. Nathan's father nearly died by Weasel's treachery, but Ezra Ketcham, a white neighbor who was married to a Shawnee woman, saved him, and then left to seek his wife's people. As this story begins, Nathan has learned that a freak show is displaying Ezra as a "White Injun." Traveling with a peddler of dubious reputation, he sets off to find him and bring him home. Only 12, Nathan has become shy of strangers after his experience with Weasel, and he must learn to read people, to hone his instincts. He relies on his practical frontier background, and a great deal of courage, to get his friend home. His biggest surprise is that Ezra seems to be only a husk of his former self. On top of the physical challenge of returning from Western Pennsylvania to his Ohio home, Nathan must reconnect to Ezra's soul. Told in Nathan's voice, this adventure treats readers to a double-dip cliff-hanging plot and heart-searing maturation.-Pat Leach, Lincoln City Libraries, NE Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
It was only five months ago that 12-year-old Nathan Fowler, his father and sister escaped the devilish Weasel (1990), a fanatical Indian killer who also attacked the friends of Native Americans. The Fowler family was only able to escape with the help of Ezra, one of Weasel's surviving Caucasian victims. Weasel might now be dead and Ezra gone off to find his Shawnee wife's people, but the events of 1839 are fresh in Nathan's mind. When a roving peddler brings leaflets describing a traveling freak show with a captive, tongue-less "White Injun," Nathan is certain the person described is his friend Ezra. Nathan's father allows him to attempt a rescue in the hopes that Nathan will see that not all strangers are villains. The peddler does teach the boy to read people, and he sees that even mercenary crooks like the freak show owners aren't as heartless as his former assailant. DeFelice returns to the Ohio wilderness of 1840 to tell a very different but no less compelling story. Nathan's first person-narration is realistic, and his adventures are exciting. Fans and newcomers will be satisfied with this long-awaited sequel. (Fiction. 9-14)
