Traveling Back in Time

I had high hopes for this book. I mean, just look at the cover. And when you go to Holt's website and click on this title, there's a lovely old-timey, bluegrassy song playing that gets you in the mood.

The story is set in 1800s Missouri, during the time when newly-emigrated Americans are heading west in search of land and luck. Amos Kincaid is the central character, and he's ready for some good luck. His mom, Delilah, dies during childbirth, and his Dad--a trapper--hands him off to his brother for long seasons of time, only to come back and claim him years and years later. The story stretches over many years, and many miles, as Amos's dad, Jake, becomes a scout for a group of families traveling west to Oregon's Wilamette Valley. When Jake returns to Missouri for Amos, it's to bring Amos on the trip west with him.

The traveling west stuff is good and interesting, providing historical and realistic details about the great Western Migration. But the thing is--Amos and his Dad, Jake, are "dowsers," which means they have a magical gift of being able to locate water in the ground. This is a big help to families looking to settle, as many want to be close to water. Jake hates being a dowser, and only uses his gift when he needs to provide for his family. Amos eventually, as an older man, embraces the gift and eventually is able to provide for his family and community.

I really wanted to see Holt do more with this magical element of the story--maybe build up the tension between the son and father's differing views on their gifts, or make it a story, maybe, about the use of natural resources, and the power man has in making decisions about how individuals/communities use life-giving resources.

And what's up with Delilah--Amos's mom?? Before she dies, you get the sense that she's pretty powerful in her own right--there's always birds around when she's in the picture, and a group of mockingbirds attack her abusive dad, Eb, at one point. When she finds out she's pregnant with Amos, she has a dream that he gets passed down from woman to woman, and Amos does, losing a sense of home and family, only to figure out he can redefine those things on his own. What's cool is that each woman who becomes Amos's surrogate mom "sees" Delilah's ghost, as if Delilah is checking in, making sure Amos is properly tended to. She finally disappears when Amos becomes a man, which the reader learns has nothing to do with age but the choices we make. I wanted more Delilah, and I wanted more dowsing, so overall, I left this book feeling like I didn't know what it wanted to be about.

I think if teachers want a good middle-grades historical fiction book about early US settlement and western migration, this is a good one to have around. I think it would make a good pair, too, with We Never Speak of It: Idaho-Wyoming Poems, 1889-1890, a book of poems about Pioneer women and children's experiences during the Western Migration.