04/25/2016
Gemeinhart (The Honest Truth) delivers another emotional page-turner in this gripping historical novel about 12-year-old orphan Joseph Johnson. It’s 1890 and Joseph is alone in the Wild West. His father, mother, and little sister have all died, and the only family he has left is his beloved horse, Sarah. When the drunk old man who looks after Joseph sells Sarah without asking permission, the young boy sets out to get his pony back. He is joined, for part of this quest, by a young boy named Ah-Kee. Both boys are alone, both are searching for something, and although they do not share a language, they bolster each other on their journeys. Voice actor Eiden performs as though he is telling readers a yarn over a campfire, performing Joseph and most of the other characters with a cowboy-like twang. The sound is crisp and clear, and there is a pleasant warmth to Eiden’s voice. He handles this middle-grade story with aplomb, making it interesting for adults as well as the intended audience. Ages 8–12. A Scholastic Press hardcover. (Jan.)

11/02/2015
Gemeinhart (The Honest Truth) delivers another emotional page-turner in this gripping historical novel about 12-year-old orphan Joseph Johnson. It’s 1890 in Washington State, and Joseph’s beloved horse, Sarah, has been sold by the unscrupulous alcoholic who took him in after his father’s death. Boy and horse have been bound together since Joseph was four, and with an unshakable moral compass instilled in him by his parents, he sets off on the horse trader’s tail, soon joining up with a Chinese boy, Ah-Kee, who has a mysterious goal of his own. While the boys cannot communicate with words, their bond grows as they struggle against relentless disasters and crises, encounter virtuous and dubious characters, and perform some good deeds. Gemeinhart gives Joseph a voice authentic to the period and his upbringing (“And it weren’t just the cold making ’em shake, neither”), which initially takes some getting used to. While the heartrending ending is a little too good to be true, it’s well-earned by Joseph and will satisfy readers accompanying him on his unforgiving journey. Ages 8–12. Agent: Pam Howell, D4EO Literary Agency. (Jan.)

Praise for The Honest Truth:A New York Times Editors' Choice selectionAn Amazon.com Best Book of the MonthAn Indie Next List selection*"An emotionally hard-hitting survival story... A gripping page-turner." — Publishers Weekly, starred review"An impressive combination of suspenseful adventure thriller and cancer narrative... Touching but unsentimental, this is a deeply moving adventure." — Booklist"Gemeinhart presents a rousingly riveting two-hanky read." — Kirkus ReviewsPraise for Some Kind of Courage:*"This is true adventure with strong underpinnings of moral courage and love... Poignant and real." — Kirkus Reviews, starred review*"Exhilarating and enthralling, Courage promises even the most reluctant readers a breakneck adventure that will keep them turning the pages with utter devotion." — Booklist, starred review"This is a terrific book, morally thoughtful and wonderfully well told, that 9- to 14-year-olds are likely to cover at a gallop." — The Wall Street Journal

05/01/2016
Gr 7 Up—Joseph Johnson prepares to leave the abusive man who took him in when his pa died, taking money that was owed him, his pa's gun, and little else, then sets out on foot for the larger city of Wenatchee, WA. Though Joseph's parents died too soon owing to frontier hardships, their teachings about kindness and fair play guide him as hurries to reclaim his sweet Sarah, the pony that is one of his only ties to his family. Joseph befriends a Chinese boy, despite widespread prejudice against Chinese immigrants working on the railroads, and together they tackle the challenges of navigating the 1890s Washington State wilderness, including bears, lost Wenatchi children, and raging rivers. Narrator Andrew Eiden's voice makes the dialect on the written page ("gonna," "gotta," "yammering," "ain't") flow smoothly to the ear. Joseph moves from one hair-raising adventure to the next, and (luckily for him) his kind and honest decisions consistently pay off. Everything resolves neatly in the end, and many readers will feel that Joseph earned every scrap of happiness that comes his way. VERDICT A straightforward choice for schools looking to add historical fiction with a rural, rustic, and Western feel. ["Gemeinhart's riveting tale of grit and grief is equally tragic and triumphant": SLJ 11/15 review of the Scholastic book.]—Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX

11/01/2015
Gr 5–8—Joseph Johnson has had to become a man sooner than most 12-year-old boys. Following the tragic deaths of his parents and sister, Joseph finds himself the ward of an alcoholic rancher who sells Joseph's beloved horse, Sarah, to a malevolent horse trader. Joseph takes off on his own across Washington state in search of Sarah, ready to give everything he's got to get back to the last reminder of his family. Early on he is joined by Ah-Kee, an abandoned Chinese boy in similarly dire straits who doesn't speak a lick of English. Joseph and Ah-Kee are embroiled in a series of gripping dangers and narrow escapes, each more thrilling than the last. Gemeinhart's vivid language and rapid pacing capture the rugged grandeur and wild unpredictability of the largely unsettled American West of the late 1800s, though it is the fortitude and sensitivity of the main character that elevates this novel beyond a mere succession of adrenaline rushes, absorbing though they are. It is Joseph's unwavering sense of honor and duty that is propelled by love, not the familiar Wild West conception of masculinity, that makes this book truly captivating. VERDICT Gemeinhart's riveting tale of grit and grief is equally tragic and triumphant.—Anna Murphy, Berkeley Carroll School Library, Brooklyn

Narrator Andrew Eiden deftly captures the colorful vernacular of Washington State in the 1890s. His Western twang gives authenticity to 12-year-old Joseph as he searches for his beloved horse, who has been stolen from him. Joseph has suffered a series of losses—the death of his mother, sister, and father have made him determined to get back what is rightfully his. Not surprisingly, Eiden’s narration often projects as much longing as drawl as Joseph is haunted by his family members’ words and what their lives meant. Traveling with Joseph is a Chinese boy, Ah-Kee, who speaks no English and faces great prejudice. Eiden’s portrayal includes Joseph’s developing tenderness and respect for his companion. This story is full of emotion, adventure, and a strong sense of time and place. S.W. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

★ 2015-10-06
Twelve-year-old Joseph Johnson searches the Northwest frontier for his missing horse and a new family. When first his mother and beloved little sister die of typhoid, and then his father dies in a wagon accident, Joseph is left in the care of a drunkard, his Indian pony, Sarah, his only remaining family. When the drunkard sells Sarah to a swindler, Joseph reclaims his father's pistol, takes the money given for the horse, and sets out in pursuit, on foot, through unforgiving wilderness. He wants Sarah back more than almost anything—but he sees the stars as the campfire his family members sit around, and he plans to be the person they taught him to be. So when he finds a starving, abandoned Chinese boy, Ah-Kee, Joseph spends part of his horse money to feed him. Ah-Kee joins him on the trail, and together they battle grizzly bears, survive river rapids, cling to the outside of a steam train, and deliver a pioneer woman's baby—all without speaking a word of each other's language. Told in Joseph's authentic voice, this is true adventure with strong underpinnings of moral courage and love. Gemeinhart shines truth on difficult situations, such as Joseph's shooting an outlaw, and the ending brings Joseph home: "There was plenty of sadness in the story, I reckon, but it wasn't sad all the way through." Poignant and real. (Historical fiction. 8-12)