A review by librariandest
Crows & Cards by Joseph Helgerson

2.0

Our hero, 12-year-old Zeb, is a Tom Sawyer-ish character who's sent far from his woodsy home to work for his Great Uncle in St. Louis. Only he never sees his uncle. Instead, he's recruited mid-trip by a gambler named Chilly who leads him down a path that just gets farther and farther from what Zeb was expecting. He makes friends with a slave named Ho-John, an Indian chief and his daughter (she doesn't have a name, but is just called "the princess"). The story is mostly driven by Zeb's moral development, but there's also a little suspense thrown in when Zeb realizes he's had enough of being Chilly's lackey.

This wasn't poorly written, but I found the voice of Zeb a little cloying. I think the author depended too much on colloquialisms and didn't really put that much into fleshing out his characters or his story. Was it just me or did every character fit pretty neatly into a cultural stereotype?

I did appreciate the afterword that spoke to the historical accuracy of the story, and the glossary that was provided to enlighten confused young readers.