Category: Young Adult/Teen Publisher: Condor Publishing, Inc.
Type: Fiction
Pages: 41
Copyright: March 2013
Price: $2.99 (eBook)
Cornelius Goes West is a young adult western about a boy who leaves the slums of New York City and goes west to find a better life. It is an exciting, action filled tale that will appeal to both young men an women.
YOUNG ADULT WESTERN:
Cornelius Kogelschitz lives in the slums of New York City. All his young life he has lived and worked in the dirty, smoke-filled part of the city, slaving long hours for meager wages in one of the many factories. His parents die of typhus and Corny moves in with his uncle, aunt, and eleven cousins. One Sunday afternoon, while on the roof capturing birds for the stew pot, he overhears an argument. His aunt complains about the added expense of caring for the boy. Deciding not to take food from his cousins, Corny bundles up his few possessions and leaves the tenement apartment and the only world he knows. Near the train station he jumps onto a moving freight train heading west. Now on his own, fourteen-year old-Cornelius rides the rails and crosses the Mississippi River into an unknown future.
Professional Reviews
Midwest Book Review, D.Donovan, Senior Reviewer
"Cornelius Kogelschitz hated his name with all the passion his mind could muster." With a vivid opening line capturing attention and interest, middle-school readers are off and running in a Western story set in a time when typhus runs rampant and 'Corny' is adopted into a large family when his parents die.
In a harsh urban environment where diseases and poverty rule, Corny spies an advertisement for the rugged and beautiful Colorado mountains, and determines early on that someday he will journey to that paradise. That day arrives sooner than expected after he overhears his aunt and uncle arguing about the strain his presence has added to their 11-children family. Thus begins a trip that takes him far from the familiar urban world and into the rugged wilderness.
Kids who appreciate sagas of self-reliance, adventure, and an unusually mature attitude in a child (one who perceives his relatives' struggle and decides to alleviate their stress himself) will find Cornelius Goes West a vivid saga.
From the strife that erupts between a father and daughter to Corny's uncertain life, the personalities and background of the West strengthen upon Corny's departure from New York City and fill in as the story moves along. The later inclusion of a dash of romance might leave some younger Western readers cringing: after all, romantic involvements are typically more of an attraction to female readers at this age, and Corny's life and times will primarily attract middle- to high-school male readers of Westerns.
The three themes that wind through this short story - Corny's escape to a new world, his encounter with a feisty girl, and the evolution of their friendship - make for a well-rounded short read while the scenery, setting, and logical growth of the protagonists are very well done indeed, bringing the West to life.
Cornelius Goes West's focus on an underage youth's roles in that milieu offers a rare glimpse into the concerns and independence of teens who make their own decisions early on in the adult world of the American frontier. Since fewer truly Western themes are directed to this age group, Cornelius is a standout
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