The Kid

What worked:
The plot is extremely unique for middle-grade readers. First off, there aren’t many books about Wild West gunslingers that feature young characters. The author builds the Old West climate through descriptions of the setting, actions, and the characters’ language. A thief and gunslinger named Snake-Eye Sam crosses hot, dusty plains on horseback to Destiny, Colorado, and spends nights under the stars. He makes stops along the way to rob stores and travelers, often riling himself up into a mood to kill. Surprisingly, the author never actually describes Sam shooting or murdering anyone so it’s appropriate for middle-grade readers. The scenes include tobacco spitting, drinking sarsaparilla (not Sam though!), and encountering rattlesnakes. Readers will let their finds drift back to the 1800s to immerse themselves in the Wild West.
Four different stories are told featuring four different main characters. Perhaps the most important perspective features The Kid, a young boy who’s a quick-draw gunslinger. Other chapters focus on Henry and his brothers as Henry creates stories of The Kid to keep thieves and the state away from their family farm. Another point of view features Sam who has eyes on building his reputation by killing The Kid. Finally, another narrative follows a magazine editor named Harold who’s traveling West to find out why he hasn’t been receiving more stories about The Kid. Harold is naïve about this part of the country and has a lot to learn.
The author builds the plot up to the much-anticipated climax between Snake-Eye Sam and The Kid. The Kid is a fictional character wearing an over-sized hat but readers will immediately note that Henry also wears his father’s too-large cowboy hat. Sam’s anger grows whenever he hears the magazine stories about The Kid so his fury builds to an inferno by the time he reaches Destiny. The big question for readers is how Henry, a boy with zero talent for guns, can survive a showdown with a ruthless, skilled killer. Henry’s main asset is his brain but can that defeat a six-shooter?
What didn’t work as well:
The timeline of the different points of view is a little confusing. The book opens with a tale of The Kid and later chapters describe the outlaw Snake-Eye Sam, the magazine employee Herbert, and finally Henry and his brothers. The strange thing is the introduction of Henry creating The Kid comes after the book has already shared a couple of stories about The Kid. The early sections about Herbert seem out of place but they become more significant once he arrives in Destiny.
The final verdict:
It’s challenging to find middle-grade novels that stand out from others but The Kid is successfully different. Henry’s idea to save the family farm is thoughtful and creative but once readers meet Snake-Eye Sam they’ll realize a final showdown between the two is inevitable. Overall, the plot unfolds into a tense, descriptive tale and I recommend you give it a shot!

I have a mix of feelings with this book. I picked it up because I am doing a critical analysis of this genre, particularly with comics and children’s fiction. I have a personal buy-in, as well, as my family migrated from the eastern United States to Wyoming and Montana. I have actual hand-written stories, as well as oral histories to capture past events from my family.

In this children’s fiction novel, the Upton family loses their parents. The oldest child, Henry, fights to keep his family together. Each child has a role, and Henry’s role is writing stories, which have gained nationwide attention with the main character, The Kid.

Henry’s story merges with Herbert (pronounced “air bear”). Herbert is Henry’s editor in Philadelphia. When Henry’s stories stop arriving, Herbert goes in search of Henry to find out why and encourage him to keep writing. Herbert has his own intentions, as he must save his job.

Snake-Eye Sam is the antagonist who believes his gun is faster than The Kid’s, so he sets off in search of The Kid for a showdown set to take place in Destiny, Colorado. All three stories converge at high noon for the classic story climax.

Liked
Inclusion of The Kid stories from The Gunslinger magazine.
Cover image and the fonts at the beginning of each chapter.
The story, as a whole, was engaging. It was full of adventure and was fast paced. The Kid and Herbert collaborating after they meet in person is a beautiful addition.
The acknowledgement of the unintended consequences of The Kid stories getting nationwide attention.
Mentions of the sarsaparilla are cute and act as great metaphors.
The chapters organized by character points of view is a nice touch.

Considerations
Whitewashing of history.
Ignoring native persons (except for one mention) and landscapes.
The “Old West” language of the characters outside of The Kid stories.
Too many stereotypes (particularly of women and also ignoring others).
Continued perpetuation of Whites as saviors of the west.

The story hit home as a nostalgic piece. Thinking about middle grade readers, they would like the adventures and the story telling. There are also some themes to which readers can relate, such as loss, fear of the future, and resiliency. Looking at the text critically, it perpetuates negative stereotypes with too much of a focus on binaries while ignoring other possibilities. I have already found myself talking about this book to others!

The Kid is told from four points of view: Henry, the oldest of four newly orphaned brothers left in charge of his family farm, Herbert, an editor for a magazine that publishes gunslinger stories, Snake Eye Sam, an outlaw, and the serialized stories from Herbert's magazine about a lawman known only as The Kid. Each point of view ties in with the others and converge in the end in a classic western high noon showdown. A very fun read and unique in the landscape of current middle-grade fiction. This is a great option for those who always want more adventure stories.

"The Kid" is a book that I think many will enjoy, but this wasn't something that I could personally get into.

Outlaws barely know what hit them when The Kid keeps law and order in an unexpected way, guaranteeing that those pages keep turning until the very last page.

Henry is only fourteen-years-old, but with the passing of his mother and father, is responsible to care for his three younger brothers and keep the farm going, which isn't a big deal since their father made sure they knew what they were doing. However, the State will see things differently. To keep them from learning about his father's death and taking his brothers away, Henry makes a deal with the Sheriff and writes about a gunslinger, who resides in the area and is able to bring all outlaws to justice, and outlaws will think twice before going to their town. It's a success and soon The Kid becomes a national bestselling series. While most outlaws now steer clear in case The Kid truly appears, there is one who takes it as a challenge and travels far just to get there. And that outlaw breathes to kill.

I picked this one up because it sticks out among the other middle grade reads, and I'm glad I did. I should also mention that I've never really been a huge fan of Wild West stories but was very curious how a gunslinger tale would meld with today's ideologies. This worked better than I expected and was quite the fast-paced, exciting read.

The tale is written from several points of view—Henry, the east coast editor Herbert, and Snake Eye Sam. Each person's nickname (Boy, Editor, etc) is placed at the beginning of the chapter as well as the year and month, since the story doesn't unfold in one timeline. The Kid's fictional story is also included in chapters here and there. These appear in a typewriter-like font and are a nice addition. Not only are tiny aspects from Henry's life woven into The Kid's adventures, but these side tales do add an entertaining and interesting twist while the main story plays out. As to the other perspectives (the main story line), these take place on two different timelines (Henry's tale starts a year before those of Herbert and Snake Eye Sam). While the month and year is stated at the beginning of each chapter as well, the back and forth does make things a bit confusing at first. After the reader figures it out, though, things flow very well.

A fast-paced weave makes the adventure exciting from beginning to end, and the real danger keeps the tension high. Still, the characters aren't forgotten, either. Due to the tale being told in various perspectives, the reader gets to know the main characters well, and, especially Henry, is easy to root for. Henry's character clashes against that of his fictional character, The Kid, and still holds enough small similarities to hit the heart. Henry's desire to keep his brothers safe, his cleverness, and even his mistakes make him easy to sympathize with and support. Herbert also adds an unique sub-plot as he leaves his protected life to travel out West. His journey and views are so different than those of Snake Eye Sam, that it also creates an interesting contrast. As for Snake Eye Sam, he makes a terrific bad guy.

There are a couple of triggers surrounding death of a loved one and violent deaths (thanks to evil Snake Eye Sam), but the read is appropriate for tween and teen audiences. The messages surrounding family and perseverance are inspiring, and there are lovely character arcs for both Henry and Herbert. The high-noon stand-off brings everything to a well-laid peak and closes off with a few extra surprises.

I was surprised by how much this read pulled me in and do recommend it to adventure and action fans, who would like to try something a bit different. I received a DRC through Netgalley and enjoyed this story more than I expected.

Things aren't always what they seem! In this funny middle-grade story, 14-year old Henry needs to make sure his brothers are taken care of in 19th century Colorado. He writes stories about a fictional character, The Kid, who can outwit anyone. Herbert is an editor who wants to track down the writer of the stories, and Snake-Eye Sam wants to beat The Kid in a gunfight. When the characters converge, everyone learns more about themselves while learning about each other.
This was a little hard to follow because of the timeline, but it was a fun story and I really liked Henry and Herbert. I hope they live happily as a found family and have many more fun adventures. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

"Outlaws beware!"

Henry, a resourceful fourteen-year-old, concocts a daring plan to protect his family from separation by inventing a fictional gunslinger known as The Kid. Real danger looms when a notorious outlaw takes The Kid's legend as a challenge, setting the stage for a high-stakes showdown.

This middle-grade novel offers a fresh take on the Wild West genre, blending fast-paced adventure with thoughtful character development. Through multiple perspectives and clever storytelling techniques, the narrative seamlessly intertwines Henry's struggles with those of his fictional creation, creating a captivating read that deftly explores themes of family, resilience, and the power of storytelling. Despite its dark moments, the book remains suitable for middle grade audiences, delivering an inspiring tale that will appeal to fans of action-packed adventures."

I never thought I could like a cowboy story this much! I honestly don't know where to begin!

This book pleasantly surprised me in many ways. I've never been the biggest fan of cowboy stories with gunslingers and such, but this adorable book put a new light on them for me, and I don't think I'll be able to watch or hear anything concerning cowboys without thinking of Henry and his brothers, Sheriff Quigley, Herbert, Miss Jameson, Bart, and Snake-Eye Sam, and smiling real big and wide. And I think I may be speaking cowboy for a while after this. Also, while it did take a little bit of getting used to, I ended up enjoying the multiple POV, which isn't something I normally draw towards. But I really liked it in this book. The voices of each character were distinct from one another, and the use of third person also made it easy to tell who we were with. I also liked the parallelism in the chapter headings: The Boy, The Editor, and The Outlaw.

My favorite thing about the book was the characters. All of them were unique, and so much fun! I enjoyed every minute with every one of them (except for maybe Sam...).

My favorite character was Herbert--or, should I say, Air-bear! He reminded me a little bit of Don Knotts's character Jesse in the movie The Shakiest Gun in the West, which was a treat. And all the writing lingo he used was even more of a treat, being a fellow writer! His chapters were so amusing, I laughed and smiled through all of them. And I said "Poor Herbert" so many times, laughing through the poor fellow's misfortune.

I loved Henry as well! All four Upton boys--they were all so responsible, respectable, and smart. It's so nice to see characters that honor their parents--even though they're gone--and take all the lessons learned to heart. But I loved how willing Henry was to become the head, even when he didn't quite know how to do everything. His love for his brothers was so sweet, and the four of them have an awesome dynamic. And when Henry and Herbert put their heads together to take down Sam, I was so, so, so, SO happy and excited. The two of them make a great team. I enjoyed their interaction. <3

Sam was a good villain. He had clear motivations, and an interesting (albeit sad) backstory. I was saddened by his bitterness at his family and at God--I would have liked to see a redemption arc for him... But I understand that the author wanted to keep the focus on The Kid.

The other characters were great too: Sheriff Quigley was sweet, Lizzy Jameson was an interesting character--I thought I wasn't gonna like her, but she makes a good caretaker for the boys, and her farmer-upbringing was appropriate--Baked Beans Bart was funny, and made me laugh.

The themes about the power of storytelling was fresh and fun, and handling loss was raw, my heart went out to those Upton boys. I could feel their struggles as they tried to keep their farm going alone. That's a big job for children, even for four of them. I enjoyed the use of The Kid stories throughout. It was fun to read some of those stories that everyone across the country raved so much about. I'd have been a big fan as well if I were in that setting--and even out of that setting, I AM a big fan!!!

Overall, this book is a great middle-grade story about storytelling, and the influence a good story can have. It has unique characters with clear voices and motivations, and would make a great read-aloud with the whole family. Kids who love cowboys would absolutely adore this book, as would young aspiring authors! Great book, a solid four stars.

***I received an ebook ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. These thoughts are my own honest opinion.***

I was pleasantly surprised by this one. Great characters, a fun story, and told with clear voices. I highly recommend this to anyone with a great imagination, excitement for the Wild West, or a fun sense of humor.

I will always say that there is a painful lack of strong kid lit for boys that doesn’t wholly rely on crude humor or 90% illustration- The Kid solves this problem easily! The characters, unique setting, and action packed plot made this impossible to put down. Bravo!

Set in 1881 Destiny, CO the story is told in several voices, often in the vernacular of the time and location. The four Upton boys find themselves orphans and in order to prevent anyone knowing and separating them, they decide to continue maintaining the family farm and Henry, the oldest, begins writing a series featuring The Kid, the fastest draw in the West, for Gunslinger Magazine to make money for them. The other characters are Herbert who will lose his job at the magazine if he can’t learn why the articles are no longer being sent and Snake-Eye Sam who breaks out of prison to track down The Kid and show him who’s really the fastest draw in the West. I really loved the story with its heartfelt message about family and its small bites of middle grade humor (Herbert travels west with an old man who delivers beans so you can guess) and do absolutely recommend this book. I want to, however, add a disclaimer that the explanation of how Sam got so mean was because his father physically abused him though the story does not dwell on that. And he was in prison for shooting his father when his cousin was going to be hit – also mentioned but not dwelt upon. You can decide if your reader can handle that.

This book was amazing. Gave me vibes of a Bill and Ted flashback type of setting and was a unique story that I don't see too much of in middle grade. I absolutely loved it and can't wait to see what the author will write in the future!