News of the World

by Paulette Jiles

Capt. Kidd travels through towns in Texas taking his newspapers with him, reading interesting bits to audiences at the cost of 10 cents/person.  He is persuaded to take responsibility for returning a 10-year-old ex-Kiowa captive girl to her German aunt and uncle in Texas. 

It was an interesting and tender story, fraught with adventures in the “wild west.”  I enjoyed her imagery—it was beautiful.  A good read.

Quotes

    “Young people could get away with rough clothing but unless the elderly dressed with care they looked like homeless vagabonds and at every reading he must present the appearance of authority and wisdom.”    p. 15  3

    The Captain and Johanna come to a destroyed cabin and went inside.  The Captain vividly imagines what life might have been like.  “....  How they swung the bucket by the handle as they went at an easy walk down the path between the trees, between here and there, between babyhood and adulthood, between innocence and death, that worn path and the lifting of the heart as the horses called out to you, how you knew each by the sound of its voice in the long cool evening after a day of hard work.  Your heart melted sweetly, it slowed, lost its edges.  Horses, horses.  All gone in the burning.”    p. 170  1 (part)

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