Kimberly Willis Holt
Autor(a) de When Zachary Beaver Came to Town
About the Author
Kimberly Willis Holt was born in Pensacola, Florida September 9, 1960, but spent most of her childhood in Forest Hill, Louisiana. Kimberly is a children's writer, most famous for writing When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, which won the National Book Award for Young People's Literature in 1999. She mostrar mais has also won, or been shortlisted, for a number of prestigious awards: Mister and Me, My Louisiana Sky, Dancing in Cadillac Light, Keeper of the Night, Waiting for Gregory, Part of Me, Skinny Brown Dog, Piper Reed Navy Brat, Piper Reed the Great Gypsy, and Piper Reed Gets a Job. Kimberly lives in Amarillo, Texas. (Bowker Author Biography) mostrar menos
Séries
Obras por Kimberly Willis Holt
Associated Works
Etiquetado
Conhecimento Comum
- Data de nascimento
- 1960-09-09
- Sexo
- female
- Nacionalidade
- USA
- Local de nascimento
- Pensacola, Florida, USA
- Educação
- Louisiana State University
University of New Orleans - Ocupações
- children's book author
- Prémios e menções honrosas
- National Book Award for Young People’s Literature (1999)
Membros
Críticas
Listas
Prémios
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Estatísticas
- Obras
- 22
- Also by
- 1
- Membros
- 5,503
- Popularidade
- #4,531
- Avaliação
- 4.0
- Críticas
- 324
- ISBN
- 235
- Línguas
- 4
- Marcado como favorito
- 1
One of my librarian colleagues took this book out of the running for our Mock Newbery early (back when the title was "The Dowser's Son") because of a couple lines right at the book's opening: "...he'd not been with a woman in a long time. Without thinking he said, 'Well, I reckon I could marry you.'" Out of context, I can see how this might make the book seem too mature for the Newbery age range (up to and including 14-year-olds). But I think this is a [b:Higher Power of Lucky|62151|The Higher Power of Lucky (The Hard Pan Trilogy, #1)|Susan Patron|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1399772267s/62151.jpg|60390] scrotum-esque fallacy. Adolescents are not necessarily going to read "been with a woman" as "had sex with a woman" so they won't necessarily go so far as to read that line as, "he was horny," which is how most adults would read it. Just like how kids aren't scandalized by reading the world "scrotum." Which is to say, I'm going to argue that this should totally be included in our Mock Newbery. In fact, it just jumped to the top of my list.
Now back to the actual book. I would put The Water Seeker in a class with [b:Anne of Green Gables|8127|Anne of Green Gables (Anne of Green Gables, #1)|L.M. Montgomery|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1390789015s/8127.jpg|3464264] and [b:Sarah Plain and Tall|106264|Sarah, Plain and Tall (Sarah, Plain and Tall, #1)|Patricia MacLachlan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327254558s/106264.jpg|2674739], i.e. excellent historical fiction about families and communities. They have drama, humor, and the fascinating details of an earlier time in history. They're beautifully written. The characters seems real enough to touch.
This story's hero is Amos Kincaid. Amos is born in 1833. His father is a beaver trapper, but he also has a special talent passed down to him from generations of Kincaids: he can find water in the ground. Amos inherits this skill, but it's a long time before he can use it.
Amos loses his mother at birth and is raised by a patchwork of communities: a minister and his wife at a mission near an Native American community, a family farm run by a widow and her six sons, traveling with his father and his new Shoshone wife, and on the Oregon Trail in a community of people seeking their fortunes out West. Along the way, the spirit of his mother follows him, almost haunting the women who come into his life.
There's so much in this story it's hard to believe it's just 300 pages. A sampling of the issues addressed: inheritance, domestic violence, racism, first love, death, what it means to be a family (or a tribe), and what it means to grow up and become a man. It's a beautiful story, filled with memorable characters, moments of joy and sadness, and a satisfying conclusion.… (mais)