Henry Appleton, Boy Hero and the Burgess Gang. An Adventure Story from Johnny Slick by John Evan Harris. Pub. Roiall Emerald 12 Feb 2024.

This very readable adventure story of New Zealand in the goldrush days of the 1860’s is told in the style of Dime western novels popularised by Johnny Slick and is the prequel to The Physician’s Gun which is reviewed elsewhere on this blog.

The main character is Henry Appleton who becomes a hero in Nelson after he helps capture bank robber “Deadeye Dick”. The book tells of episodes in the life of Henry aged between 10 and 15, his horse Duke, his father before his death in the gold fields and his mother who is trying to settle in the Nelson province.

It is written in an era when small towns were a scenes of settlement, entertainment and wealth and the country was rugged and lawless with gangs robbing banks and living off the wealth found by the multi national miners who came seeking their fortune.

Henry worships guns, he thinks they are necessary while his mother considers they are not. Henry is going to get and use a gun as he encounters a bunch of London born crooks that became famous in this era and known as the Burgess Gang. They were later convicted of the infamous Maungatapu Murders.

The adventure is gripping and the book is a short easy to read novel that will appeal to reluctant readers.

The Drover’s Quest by Susan Brocker

The Drover’s Quest by Susan Brocker. Pub. HarperCollins, 2012.

My immediate thought on this action packed novel, was that it would make a great read-a-loud for school years 5/6 and 7/8.

It has less than 180 pages, the chapters are short, the action comes thick and fast and it has an array of characters that will hold the interest of everybody.

Charlotte’s father finds a gold nugget the size of a fist in the West Coast goldfields of the 1860’s. He goes missing presumed murdered, so his 14 year old daughter Charlotte passes herself off as a boy and accompanied by Tama Ihaka her father’s best friend, she joins a cattle drive over the Southern Alps to the West Coast to find him.

Will her true identity be revealed and worse is her father really dead?

On the drove she meets a 15 year old part Cherokee Indian boy who can ride like the wind and is heading for the gold fields. They become friends but how can she hide her womanliness?

Then there is the head drover call Scar, who knows something that he is not revealing. Plus there is a horse called Cobber and a dog called Skye.

The journey from Christchurch, across the plains and over the Alps to who knows what is thrilling. Susan Brocker is to be congratulated for putting so much into such a short novel.

Take my word for it primary and intermediate kids will love this story of early New Zealand.