Legends of the Lost Causes

by Brad McLelland, Louis Sylvester

Overview

The thrilling first book in a new middle-grade fantasy action-adventure series set in the Old West, about a ragtag team of orphans who must fight off the risen dead

A band of orphan avengers. A cursed stone. A horde of zombie outlaws.

This is Keech Blackwood's new life after Bad Whiskey Nelson descends upon the Home for Lost Causes and burns it to the ground.

With his home destroyed and his family lost, Keech will have to use the lessons he learned from Pa Abner to hunt down the powerful Char Stone. Luckily, he has the help of a ragtag team of orphans. Together, they'll travel through treacherous forests, fight off the risen dead, and discover that they share mysterious bonds as they search for the legendary stone. Now it's a race against the clock, because if Bad Whiskey finds the stone first . . . all is lost.

But Keech and the other orphans won't hesitate. Because they're more than just heroes.

They're Lost Causes.

Praise for Legend of the Lost Causes:

A Junior Library Guild selection

"This is a fun and exciting story, written with the utmost respect for the Osage culture." --Wah-Zha-Zhi Cultural Center

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250294272
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	02/19/2019
Series:	Legends of the Lost Causes , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	352
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.50(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Born and raised in Arkansas, Brad McLelland spent several years working as a crime journalist in the South before earning his MFA in creative writing from Oklahoma State University. A part-time drummer and singer, Brad lives in Oklahoma with his wife, stepdaughter, a mini-Aussie who gives hugs, and a chubby cat who begs for ham.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Legends of the Lost Causes:

A Junior Library Guild selection

"An adventure with a Louis L'Amour-esque flair refreshed for today's readers by the thoughtful incorporation of American frontier history and Osage culture. This is an easy read for fans of Westerns like Bowman's Vengeance Road." --The Bulletin

"Incorporates aspects of Osage culture and legend into this action-packed series starter. Part western, part zombie flick, this pits scrappy, resourceful kids against some menacing villains--always a recipe for success." --Booklist

"The Old West lingo-laden dialogue is pitch-perfect--not to mention contagious. It's rare to see a Western in middle grade fiction--especially one that, like this one, eliminates some of the genre's more harmful stereotypes of Native populations . . . [this] will surely gain more than a few young fans." --School Library Journal

From the Publisher

02/01/2018
Gr 4–7—McLelland and Sylvester's debut novel and series opener is a classic Western full of cowboys, adventure, and a sprinkling of the supernatural. In 1850s Missouri, orphans Keech and Sam's peaceful life at the Home for Lost Causes is interrupted when a stranger named Bad Whiskey comes looking for the orphanage's patriarch, Pa Abner. As it turns out, Pa—whose real name is Isaiah Raines—used to be part of a group known as the Enforcers. When Pa doesn't reveal the location of the mysterious Char Stone, Bad Whiskey shoots Pa dead and burns the orphanage to the ground. Only Keech escapes and, on the road, joins a band of other orphans to follow Pa's secret telegram to find the Char Stone before Bad Whiskey and his army of undead thralls do. The characters are all larger-than-life, including a few that stand out against the White majority: Keech is part Osage and Cutter is Latinx. The Old West lingo-laden dialogue is pitch-perfect—not to mention contagious. It's rare to see a Western in middle grade fiction—especially one that, like this one, eliminates some of the genre's more harmful stereotypes of Native populations. VERDICT Though not a first purchase, an interesting step forward for the genre that will surely gain more than a few young fans.—Alec Chunn, Eugene Public Library, OR

School Library Journal