Crosswire

by Dotti Enderle

Overview

Dwindling water supplies have driven desperate cattlemen to snip fences in order to water their herds—targeting thirteen-year-old Jesse's farm several times. When a lone drifter arrives in town, he's quickly hired to work the farm. Jesse suspects the man is more than just a hired hand and is determined to uncover his mysterious secret. This Society of School Librarians International Honor Book includes an author's note and bibliography.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455625857
Publisher:	Arcadia Publishing SC
Publication date:	06/21/2021
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	10 - 15 Years

About the Author

Dotti Enderle launched her publishing career writing for popular children's magazines. She is a prolific author with award-winning books for young readers, middle readers, and young adults. Enderle has also authored a popular series for teachers to help them in the classroom. She loves writing mysteries and adventures that draw the reader in. Enderle is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators, the Houston Storytellers Guild, and the Writers League of Texas. She makes her home in Houston, Texas.

Editorial Reviews

"Something there is that doesn't love a wall," says the voice in Frost's "Mending Wall," which is certainly the sentiment of the free-range cattlemen in 1883, when drought made them desperate enough to cut farmers' barbed-wire fences to get at water for their herds. Farmers reacted, setting off the Fence-Cutting Wars in Texas. Thirteen-year-old Jesse and his family are farmers, and when his father hires a mysterious man named Jackson to help in mending fences and fighting back, Jesse's too afraid of guns to be counted a man in this conflict. It's his coming-of-age story that will involve readers, who will feel the mounting tension as Jesse must eventually decide what it means to be a man in a conflict with no easy answers. A solid, unassuming prose style perfectly matches the Texas setting to tell a tale about a little-known but fascinating part of American history. Enderle writes with restraint, her research neatly woven into the story, her characters carefully drawn. A small gem of a story. (afterword, bibliography) (Historical fiction. 10 & up)

Kirkus Reviews