Overall Grade: A
Random House, January 2009
Ignatius (known as “Brother”) Alderman is twelve years old and the youngest of five brothers who work on a cattle ranch with their father and grandparents. Brother has never been quite the same as his brothers—three of whom are in the military (like their dad) and all of whom are tougher ranchers than Brother thinks he will ever be. But when his dad’s army reserve unit is deployed to Iraq, Brother is left to be the man of the house with all his brothers away with army training or college or military high school. He handles the conflicts and dramas of ranch life with courage and hope, and eventually finds his calling in an unlikely way.
Heart of a Shepherd was a believable, moving story told by a talented new author who brings grace and tangibility to her words. Rosanne Parry brings the experience of a young rancher to life so realistically that as a reader you can practically smell the horse sweat and see the stars in a clear mountain sky. This story is full of drama and emotion, handling difficult issues with a sensitive and credible touch.
Literary Quality: A
Plot: A
Voice: A
Originality: B
Descriptive Ability: A
Humor: n/a
Illustrations: n/a
Believability of Characters: A+
Believability of Situations: A+
Overall Reading Enjoyment: A+
Possibly objectionable topics*: injury of secondary character in a war, death of secondary character
Random House, January 2009
Ignatius (known as “Brother”) Alderman is twelve years old and the youngest of five brothers who work on a cattle ranch with their father and grandparents. Brother has never been quite the same as his brothers—three of whom are in the military (like their dad) and all of whom are tougher ranchers than Brother thinks he will ever be. But when his dad’s army reserve unit is deployed to Iraq, Brother is left to be the man of the house with all his brothers away with army training or college or military high school. He handles the conflicts and dramas of ranch life with courage and hope, and eventually finds his calling in an unlikely way.
Heart of a Shepherd was a believable, moving story told by a talented new author who brings grace and tangibility to her words. Rosanne Parry brings the experience of a young rancher to life so realistically that as a reader you can practically smell the horse sweat and see the stars in a clear mountain sky. This story is full of drama and emotion, handling difficult issues with a sensitive and credible touch.
Literary Quality: A
Plot: A
Voice: A
Originality: B
Descriptive Ability: A
Humor: n/a
Illustrations: n/a
Believability of Characters: A+
Believability of Situations: A+
Overall Reading Enjoyment: A+
Possibly objectionable topics*: injury of secondary character in a war, death of secondary character
1 comment:
This sounds like such a good story! I'm going to try to find it... thnx for the summary and review!
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