Good Reads / Community Library Notes
News of the World
Paulette Jilies
Review by Priscilla Comen
News of the World
Paulette Jilies
Review by Priscilla Comen
“News of the World” by Paulette Jiles. In the 1870s Captain Kidd and a ten year old girl, Johanna, travel together to find her family. She had been captured by Kiowa Indians who had killed her parents She lived with them for two years, adopting their ways and their language. Captain Kidd makes his living by reading newspapers at venues in small Texas towns to inform those who can not read or don’t have the time to read the “news of the world.” Neither she nor the Captain trust each other.
They cross swollen rivers in Kidd’s wagon with two horses and eat what they can buy with the dimes and quarters grateful listeners drop in the paint can. Captain Kidd is taking in the blue eyed girl out of the goodness of his heart, although he was given a fifty dollar gold piece for his good deed. Author Jiles describes the Texas countryside and the local inhabitants in near-poetic terms. Some of the people are mean and violent, others are kind. A map of their route through Texas and the Indian territory shows us their journey. Almay, who deals in child prostitution, offers to buy the girl from Captain Kidd. Kidd leaves town with the girl immediately. But Almay finds him and a shoot-out occurs. Johanna, the girl, helps to defend them. She amazes Kidd with her clever ideas, using dimes for bullets. She chants a Kiowa song of victory.
As the captain goes from town to town, Johanna gets into trouble bathing in the rivers, almost naked, and Kidd settles disputes with kind words. In one small town, Durand, a fight breaks out over politics of the union, and Kidd’s coins fly everywhere. Kidd is too old and tired to pick them up. Johanna has called him grandfather in her language and he feels that old. After she kills two chickens for their breakfast, he wonders how her future family will cope with her.
As they travel together and fight their enemies, they grow to be great friends. Johanna learns English and Kidd tries to write the Kiowa language in his notebook. This lovely novel is on the new fiction shelf of your community library.
They cross swollen rivers in Kidd’s wagon with two horses and eat what they can buy with the dimes and quarters grateful listeners drop in the paint can. Captain Kidd is taking in the blue eyed girl out of the goodness of his heart, although he was given a fifty dollar gold piece for his good deed. Author Jiles describes the Texas countryside and the local inhabitants in near-poetic terms. Some of the people are mean and violent, others are kind. A map of their route through Texas and the Indian territory shows us their journey. Almay, who deals in child prostitution, offers to buy the girl from Captain Kidd. Kidd leaves town with the girl immediately. But Almay finds him and a shoot-out occurs. Johanna, the girl, helps to defend them. She amazes Kidd with her clever ideas, using dimes for bullets. She chants a Kiowa song of victory.
As the captain goes from town to town, Johanna gets into trouble bathing in the rivers, almost naked, and Kidd settles disputes with kind words. In one small town, Durand, a fight breaks out over politics of the union, and Kidd’s coins fly everywhere. Kidd is too old and tired to pick them up. Johanna has called him grandfather in her language and he feels that old. After she kills two chickens for their breakfast, he wonders how her future family will cope with her.
As they travel together and fight their enemies, they grow to be great friends. Johanna learns English and Kidd tries to write the Kiowa language in his notebook. This lovely novel is on the new fiction shelf of your community library.