Finding The Sky

Twelve-year old Jo Harper thought 1910 would be another boring year in the Wyoming range town of Willowby, Wyoming. Then tough-talkin' pistol-shootin' Abby Drake came to town and made Jo a deputy law and order woman... Collecting four exciting Jo Harper novellas, Finding the Sky pits Jo and her friends against cattle rustlers, outlaws, a bank robber and a tinhorn gambler. With explosions of fire, flaming arrows, and a wild ride in a Model-T, Jo's introspective, early 20th Century life will never again be the same.

Finding The Sky (Juvenile Western Fiction)

By Richard Prosch

Painted Pony Books www.paintedponybooks.com

ISBN #978-1503105164

Price $9.99

172 Pages

Rating 5-Stars

“Great Fun at the Start of the 20^th Century.”

This book contains the first four novelettes featuring Jo Harper. WAITING FOR A COMET, RACING A DOG STAR, ROPING A PLANET, and SHOOTING THE MOON.

WAITING FOR A COMET: During the long, hot spring of 1910 it seemed all 12-year-old Jo Harper could do was wait. Wait for her father, wait for her friends, wait for the comet that might appear in the sky and wipe out the whole town of Willowby, Wyoming once and for all. But when wild west legend Abby Drake arrives in town lugging an orphaned baby calf, an old-fashioned revolver, and a mystery shrouded with superstition, it’s up to Jo to take action. Why is Abby in town? Who is she after? And what secrets can Jo coax out of her own archenemy, Emily Bly?

Action, humor, and real life history combine for an exciting mystery about one girl’s summertime quest for family, friendship, and justice on the wind-burnt Wyoming range at the dawn of a new century.

RACING A DOG STAR: Title is a bit misleading, but the story continues the Jo Harper series just fine. It’s the first day of school, and a new schoolmaster is in town. However, Jo’s pal, 10-year-old Frog Carpenter tells her about a new-fangled automobile in town, she follows him into trouble. Taking Mr. Beemer’s Model-T for a ride, they end up locked in a barn for snooping. Escaping, they run into Constable Abby Drake who is investigating a crime.

Everything works out fine, but for a while we wonder if Jo and Frog haven’t gotten in too deep this time.

ROPING A PLANET: Jupiter, the giant show horse is in danger. It appears someone is trying to kill the horse. The owners want to put him in movies, and display him around the country, but with his life in danger they must first discover the culprit and make sure the horse is safe. That’s where Abby and Jo come in. But they must dodge bullets and flaming arrows if they are to succeed.

SHOOTING THE MOON: The final story finds Willowby preparing to celebrate Fall Festival, when the bank is robbed. Abby, Jo and Frog capture the bandit, but it turns out the outlaw is an old friend of Abby’s from the Wild West show. She resigns her position as constable, but Jo decides to keep her Deputy Constable status, and deputizes Frog to assist her. They see Abby and the bank robber escaping from an alley where their friend must have broke him out of jail. Then discover another crook in their midst. Now they need Abby back to help stop this one.

The author has fun creating neat little mysteries for Jo Harper and her friends to solve in these novelettes. Well written, and highly entertaining, they are a throwback to the old juvenile series of a previous time, and well worth reading. Highly recommended.

Tom Johnson

Author of CARNIVAL OF DEATH