News of the World by Paulette Jiles

Jiles is known as a poet and a memoirist and draws on both talents to tell this story of an unlikely friendship in Texas in 1870. Captain Kidd earned his rank in the Civil War but at the age of 70 he earns his living reading the news to small towns around Texas.  When he is asked to return a ten year old girl who was captured by the Kiowa four years earlier, he isn't sure he is up to the long journey from Wichita Falls to San Antonio.  Although there are many adventures along the way, the bigger story is Kidd's understanding of Johanna and the many children like her.  Conventional wisdom then said that they were brutally treated by "savages" but Kidd sees something very different.  Johanna is a clever, free spirit and as they begin to form a bond, Kidd begins to think that returning her to her rigid aunt and uncle might not be what is best.  Jiles did a lot of research on both the times and the real truth of captive children which provides a real authenticity to this fictional story.  Even better, the idea of a time when the news would only be shared by a rich voice bringing news from places the listeners could only imagine seems like such an improvement over the information overload of today.

Last Bus to Wisdom by Ivan Doig

Until he was eleven, Donal Cameron lived an idyllic life.  Free to roam much of the Double W ranch where the grandmother who raised him was the cook, he loved all aspects of ranch life.  But in 1951 Grandma had to spend some time in the hospital.  He was sent on "the dog" (aka Greyhound Bus) to stay with Grandma's sister Kate in Wisconsin.  That is adventure #1. Donal just cannot abide her tyrannical nature and soon there are so many conflicts that he is sent packing.  Traveling with him is Herman the German, Kate's husband (sort of), who has also had enough of Kate's nasty temper.  So it is back on "the dog" and off to adventures #2,3... - some planned - some not.   Doig draws inspiration from a bus trip he took as a child to write what would turn out to be his final tribute to his beloved Montana and the quirky characters that peopled his imagination as much as they did his past.  Folksy, hopeful, - typical Doig.

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

Pulitzer and National Book Award Winner - and probably many more.  It is both historical fiction about America at it's worst and a little bit of magical realism that allows Whitehead to play loose with time and metaphor.  Both disturbing and hopeful.  As a child, Cora lives in a antebellum cotton plantation in Georgia.  Abandoned by a mother who fled north, scorned by many of her fellow slaves and selected for frequent abuse by a sadistic "master", she escapes at the age of fifteen.  The underground railroad that carries her north is an actual system of tracks and engines and stations deep underground.  At each stop in her journey, she becomes a leading character in the long history of cruelty.  Lynchings, eugenics, slaughter of whole black communities, occasions of freedom that quickly turn dark - they are all there.  Cora draws strength from her anger at the people who have abandoned and abused her.  She knows she is meant to be free.  There are many thought provoking passages about the notion of prejudice and "manifest destiny" as well as insights into the slave experience. It is a hard history to acknowledge made even sadder by the fact that it sometimes feels more current than historical.

News of the World by Paulette Jiles

Jiles is known as a poet and a memoirist and draws on both talents to tell this story of an unlikely friendship in Texas in 1870. Captain Kidd earned his rank in the Civil War but at the age of 70 he earns his living reading the news to small towns around Texas.  When he is asked to return a ten year old girl, Johanna, who was captured by the Kiowa four years earlier, he isn't sure he is up to the long journey from Wichita Falls to San Antonio.  Although there are many adventures along the way, the bigger story is Kidd's understanding of Johanna and the many children like her.  Conventional wisdom then said that captives like Johanna were brutally treated by "savages" but Kidd sees something very different.  Johanna is a clever, free spirit and as they begin to form a bond, Kidd begins to think that returning her to her rigid aunt and uncle might not be what is best.  Jiles did a lot of research on both the times and the real truth of captive children.  The story rings so true and the idea of a time when the news would only be shared by a rich voice bringing news from places the listeners could only imagine sounds so much better then the information overload of today.