The Adventurous Deeds of Deadwood Jones

Saddle up! We're headed for Deadwood. When Prometheus Jones wins a horse with the raffle ticket he got from Pernie and LaRue Boyd, he knows things won't go smoothly. No way are those two rednecks going to let a black man, even a freeman from the day of his birth, keep that horse. So as soon as things get ugly, he jumps on the horse, pulls his friend Omer up behind him, and heads off. They hook up with a cattle drive out of Texas heading for Deadwood, North Dakota. Prometheus is a fine hand with a horse and not so bad with a gun, and both skills prove useful as the trip north throws every twist and turn imaginable at the young cowpokes. The Adventurous Deeds of Deadwood Jones, a Voice of Youth Advocates Top Shelf Fiction for Middle School Readers book, revives the famous "dime novels" about "Deadwood Dick" written by Edward L. Wheeler, which, in turn, were loosely based on the autobiography of the African American cowboy Nat Love.

"Inspired by the autobiography of African-American cowboy Nat Love, this notable Western shows a side of cowboy life rarely depicted. . . . Hemphill's convincing vernacular narration and well-researched, hard-bitten details of life in the South and on the western range give this adventure story surprising depth."--School Library Journal

"The adventures are nonstop, with mentions of Custer and warring Pawnee and Sioux Indians adding to the excitement and danger of buffalo stampedes and river crossings." --Kirkus Reviews

"Compelling reading." --Booklist

"Hemphill's convincing vernacular narration and well-researched, hard-bitten details of life in the South and on the western range give this adventure story surprising depth. The fast-paced plot, punctuated by Prometheus's astonishing wins and losses, will lasso readers' interest." --School Library Journal

Helen Hemphill grew up in Texas and now lives in Austin and Nashville, Tennessee. She is the author of the novel Long Gone Daddy, which was published to considerable critical acclaim. The Adventurous Deeds of Deadwood Jones is her third book.