Review: The Wild Adventures of Eli Johnson & Curly Bill (Book 1) by Dan Wright and Bill Wright

ISBN #: 9781453721049

Page Count: 107

Copyright: 2010

Book Summary:

(Taken from back cover)

In the mid 1800's many Americans headed West in search of gold and adventure.  These folks traveled on horses and buggies down perilous trails filled with bandits, wild animals, and hostile Indians in an effort to strike it rich.  Our story follows a young man from Virginia, Eli Johnson, who shares the same dream of discovering gold.  His plans are derailed as a card game goes bad in a small hotel/saloon in the mountains of Colorado, and is forced to live a life on the run with his comrade Curly Bill.  Along the way, the men encounter a host of interesting characters, battle dangerous animals, and try to stay one step ahead of a group of bandits looking for revenge.  The men learn valuable lessons about friendship, survival, and a love of the great outdoors.

Mandy's Review:

Cover

The dark brown of the edge-burnt paper with the pen drawing is reminiscent of the olden days.

Plot/Main Characters

Eli Johnson is a young Virginia kid who decides to head out West and become part of the gold rush.  Thanks to a rigged poker game with a bunch of cheaters in a saloon, Eli meets Curly Bill.  When the game ends abruptly, the two men run to Canada to escape the three men running after them.

Curly Bill is older and seemingly wiser.  It's his cabin that they go to in the Canadian woods.  While there, they decide to do some trapping so they can make money off the pelts.

Well, the Indians do not appreciate them showing up and warn them to leave.

Do Eli and Curly heed their warnings?

Overall

This book has everything you could want in an Old West tale: Indians, outlaws, bears, an old miner, etc.  I would recommend this as the perfect read suited for young pre-teen boys.