Gr 8-12--A Little Bit Dead is a little bit hokey, but overall it's a charming story of the old West. When 18-year-old Reece lumbers out of the mountains after trapping all winter, he finds himself unavoidably saving the life of a young Indian, Shanti. The bad guys don't like having their prey snatched away, especially when they believe Shanti has the map to a lost horde of gold. But worse trouble arises when one of them is murdered and Reece is blamed. That's the main plot; the two subplots are the whore-with-the-heart-of-gold and the doomed battle of the Indians to fend off the white man. It is not difficult to figure out how all this will turn out, but suspense is not the reason to read this book. The plot is highly melodramatic and slow in places, but its quirky humor carries it right over the rough spots and there is more than enough action to satisfy any reader. It is earthy in places, but Reece is such an innocent guy that he blushes in the right places. He comes fully to life, although none of the secon dary characters do, with the delightful excep tion of his horse, Packy. The theme definitely imposes modern attitudes on a far different era, but the friendship between the Indian boy and the white boy rings so true that Reaver neatly sidesteps the trap of didacticism. A sparkling book with a serious message. -- Kathy Fritts, Jesuit High School, Portland, OR
Raised by his father, a trapper in the 1870s, Reece was taught to do what was right. So when he comes across an Indian boy close to his own age about to be lynched by a couple of U.S. marshals, he doesn't hesitate. He rescues the boy, Shanti, leaving the marshals stranded but unharmed. He puts it all out of his mind when he meets Kathryn, a considerably experienced dance hall girl willing to share her knowledge. Then the lawmen arrive in town, claiming Reece murdered one of the marshals, and Reece sets off to find Shanti and prove his innocence. Although the escapades are a little larger than life, Reaver's characters are likable, Reece's growing friendship with Shanti is involving, and his frustrated affair with Kathryn credible. Hard-hitting action and fresh, spontaneous dialogue mix with a sprinkling of romance in an entertaining picture of coming-of-age in the Old West. By the author of "Mote" [Ja 15 91].
