1958 Newbery Medal and Honor Books

Rifles for Watie

By: Harold Keith

Medal Winner
NOT REVIEWED

Jeff Bussey walked briskly up the rutted wagon road toward Fort Leavenworth on his way to join the Union volunteers. It was 1861 in Linn County, Kansas, and Jeff was elated at the prospect of fighting for the North at last.

In the Indian country south of Kansas there was dread in the air; and the name, Stand Watie, was on every tongue. A hero to the rebel, a devil to the Union man, Stand Watie led the the Cherokee Indian Nation fearlessly and successfully on savage raids behind the Union lines. Jeff came to know the Watie men only too well.

He was probably the only soldier in the West to see the Civil War from both sides and live to tell about it. Amid the roar of cannon and the swish of flying grape, Jeff learned what it meant to fight in battle. He learned how it felt never to have enough to eat, to forage for his food or starve. He saw the green fields of Kansas and Oklahoma laid waste by Watie's raiding parties, homes gutted, precious corn deliberately uprooted. He marched endlessly across parched, hot land, through mud and slashing rain, always hungry, always dirty and dog-tired.

And, Jeff, plain-spoken and honest, made friends and enemies. The friends were strong men like Noah Babbitt, the itinerant printer who once walked from Topeka to Galveston to see the magnolias in bloom; boys like Jimmy Lear, too young to carry a gun but old enough to give up his life at Cane Hill; ugly, big-eared Heifer, who made the best sourdough biscuits in Choctaw country; and beautiful Lucy Washbourne, rebel to the marrow and proud of it. The enemies were men of another breed — hard bitten Captain Clardy for one, a cruel officer with hatred for Jeff in his eyes and a dark secret on his soul.

This is a rich and sweeping novel—rich in its panorama of history; in its details so clear that the reader never doubts for a moment that he is there; in its dozens of different people, each one fully realized and wholly recognizable. It is a story of a lesser-known part of the Civil War, the Western campaign, a part different in its issues and its problems, and fought with a different savagery. Inexorably it moves to a dramatic climax, evoking a brilliant picture of a war and the men of both sides who fought in it.

From the dust jacket

Gone-Away Lake

By: Elizabeth Enright
Illustrated by: Beth and Joseph Krush

Honor
NOT REVIEWED

The first discovery that Julian and his cousin Portia made in the woods around their new summer home was the great rock with the Latin inscription: "Lapis Philosophorum, Tarquin et Pindar, 15 July 1891." The second was the swampy expanse that had once been a lake and was bordered by old and formerly elegant summer houses. The third, and by far the best discovery, was that two fascinating people lived in these apparently deserted houses.

For a long while Portia and Julian kept their marvelous discoveries to themselves, spending wonderful days exploring the old houses and hearing glorious stories of bygone times. Then one momentous day, Foster, Portia's smaller brother, trailed them and floundered into the Gulper, the swamp's dangerous quicksand. By the time he had been rescued, Gone-Away Lake was no longer a secret. The special world, now shared, proved even more joyous. And at last, the vine-entangled Villa Caprice, forgotten for fifty years, revealed its remarkable secrets.

With rare skill, Miss Enright has created a world of fascination and adventure peopled by real and unforgettable characters with whom the reader happily goes exploring until the last page is reached. Long after the book has been reluctantly closed, the place and the people will be remembered. 

From the dust jacket

The Great Wheel

By: Robert Lawson

Honor
NOT REVIEWED

Peering into the cup, Aunt Honora read the tea leaves for the Irish lad, Conn. "Mind well what I'm telling you, now. Your fortune lies to the west. Keep your face to the sunset an follow the evening star, and one day you'll ride the greatest wheel in all the world."

Conn was puzzled about the wheel—and his mother was frankly worried. The west could only mean America, which she felt had already claimed far too many fine young men of Erin.

But six years later Conn did sail. On the ship he met Martin Brennan, a master rigger who had been crippled in a fall when he was a seaman. He was to become a firm friend. And then there was Trudy! Conn had never had much to do with girls, but Trudy was beautiful and easy to talk to. He was never to forget her.

In New York, Uncle Michael wanted Conn for a partner in his thriving business of building sewers and pavements, but Conn was persuaded by his Uncle Patrick to go to Chicago instead, to help in construction work for the World's Fair.

Martin went with him, and together they worked, through bitter weather and under conditions that were back-breaking but often exhilarating. And it was here that Aunt Honora's prophecy, made almost a decade before, and far across the sea, was finally fulfilled.

From the dust jacket

The Horsecatcher

By: Mari Sandoz

Honor
NOT REVIEWED

Young Elk, a Cheyenne Indian youth, does not want to kill. Instead of becoming a warrior in the great tradition of both sides of his family, he wants to catch and tame the fine and beautiful horses from the wild herds of mustangs that run as swiftly as cloud shadows over the prairies.

His father warns him that tribal honors and the soft glances of the maidens go to warriors, not to horsecatchers. But Young Elk is not easily swayed. Determined to test his skill in horse-catching, he slips away from the camp, and alone walks deep into enemy territory in pursuit of a band of wild mustangs. Although successful, he nearly brings disaster to his people and is openly shamed and rebuked by tribal leaders.

Later, during a Kiowa attack on his tribe, Young Elk is forced to kill an enemy warrior, and although his actions are acclaimed and rewarded, he is sick with guilt. Seeking guidance through fasting and dreams, his determination to be a horsecatcher grows.

Young Elk's search for horses brings him face to face with many dangers — dangers which demand even greater br avery than a warrior must display. He learns, however, that in order to attain this freedom from tribal tradition, he must assume his basic responsibilities to family and village. He must earn the right to live as he wishes.

Mari Sandoz combines fast-moving action with a unique understanding of the Indian world. She portrays the Indian with dignity and shows unusual insights into his way of life, and his astounding knowledge of the world around him. The Horsecatcher is rich with atmosphere and color and is exciting and rewarding reading for young people and adults.

From the dust jacket

Tom Paine: Freedom's Apostle

By: Leo Gurko
Illustrated by: Fritz Kredel

Honor
NOT REVIEWED

"These are the times that try men's souls . . ."

It was September 1776; and by the flickering light of an army campfire, a man sat on a hogshead writing.

His name was Tom Paine. This dramatic biography is his story. In 1774, totally unknown to the world, he arrived in America from England with only the clothes on his back, his one tangible asset a letter of introduction from Benjamin Franklin.

Then he published his pamphlet, Common Sense; and the name, Tom Paine, became not only a household word from Massachusetts to the Carolinas, but a name that aroused violent feelings three thousand miles away in England.

The complex nature of Paine's character is revealed with clarity and objectivity. "I have heard two opinions of you, Mr. Paine," said Benjamin Franklin. "Men like Jefferson and Monroe swear by you and think you're the ablest man writing for the American cause. Others, like Gouverneur Morris, think you a low dog, say that you consort with riffraff, and are only a troublemaker."

Born in England, Tom Paine supported American rebellion. Raised a Quaker, he urged war. He was a diplomat too blunt to negotiate subtly; a man who secured a loan of eight million dollars from France but was unable to manage his own financial affairs. In 1776 he was the adored champion of the American Revolution; by 1784 he was largely ignored and without funds, and was later left to languish in a French prison. 

Dr. Gurko has brought his skill as a writer and a thorough knowledge of the revolutionary period to this definitive work on one of America's most provocative figures.

From the dust jacket