The Great Turkey Walk

Rating:
Summary: The Great Turkey Walk
Review: After completing third grade for the fourth time, Simon Green is finished with school. Now he has to find a way to make a living. He comes up with an unbelievable plan to make a fortune. He's going to herd a flock of one thousand turkeys from Missouri to Denver where the price of turkeys is a whopping $5 each. Along with a drover and a couple of companions he picks up along the way, Simon has an amazing trip through the old West meeting with runaway slaves and educated Indians, and being chased by his pa whom he first meets along the way. Reading this aloud to my sixth grade class, the sense of humor was a bit above many of them, but they thoroughly enjoyed the book.

Rating:
Summary: Promising start but too annoying to finish
Review: My family listened to this as a book on tape for a long drive (I'm the dad). The book started out with a cute premise and was engaging for about 150 miles. The narration was excellent. But then the book became way too politically correct and historically lame. The language especially dated the book to the 1990s instead of the 1860s when the story was supposed to take place. Aren't we past treating Native Americans as Noble Savages? Would people of this era use the expression, "the bottom line"? By 200 miles it was too annoying to listen any more. Book editors are supposed to help authors fix problems like these. Someone didn't do their job. I cannot recommend this book. Try "Old Yeller" instead.

Rating:
Summary: When Simon Met Turkeys
Review: The Great Turkey Walk is definitely one of Kathleen Karr's best. It is a very unique book. The title sounds a little weird, but turkeys are not what the book is all about. The language used in the book draws the reader back into the 1800's of the Wild West of Missouri. When Simon Green first buys 1000 turkeys, he's rather confused about what to do with them. He finds a mule-skinner to drive the mules he needs to help drive the turkeys all the way to Denver with him. His third-grade teacher loans him some money to pay for the skinner and the turkeys. When he finally gets on the road there is much more trouble and three surprise guests! One of the reasons I recommend this book is because it has lots of interesting characters. One of them, Mr. Peece, is a drunk. But, since Simon has hired him as a mule-skinner, he never takes a drink. When they get to Denver, Mr. Peece helps Simon set up an auction for however many turkeys they have left in the end. (They lose a few along the way.) Also along the way they pick up Jabeth, a friendly, run-away slave. When they get closer to Denver they find Lizzie, a sixteen-year-old orphan, whose family died when they got a plague from grasshoppers. Simon falls in love with her as soon as they pick her up. Another great addition to the story is... ACTION. When Simon, Mr. Peece and Jabeth go into an unknown town, they meet up with some unfriendly soldiers, who start shooting at the turkeys. As soon as that happens, Simon gets a little overprotective. He starts punching one of the soldiers and ends up beating him up pretty badly. Also along the way, they meet with Simon's long lost dad, who takes Simon's turkeys and ties Simon and Mr. Peece up. (Jabeth hides behind a bush) When he and his companions get out, they have a very hard time getting the turkeys back. This is a great book; I highly recommend it.

One reason why another person might not enjoy this book, is that it some of the action gets a little repetitive. When Simon's dad comes and steals the turkeys from Simon, something like that happens again. And they run into Indians twice. However, each time it happens, you still get the same rush of suspense. This book has a great ending, it's a page-turner and fun to read.