From: Steven
Date: Sat, 23 May 1998 11:18:16 PST

Sunshine Rider" by Ric Lyden Hardman (1998) is a pretty unusual humorous book for young adults. It's a western that verges almost into a tall tale. The hero is a vegetarian who has a series of wild adventures starting out with a cattle drive. His narration is hilarious at times. The book reminds me a bit of Sid Fleischman's westerns and a little of Hank the Cowdog. I'm just not sure who will read it: it's long, and humorous westerns don't really fit in to the usual ya genres. Could make a great booktalk though.... One comment about irony: I know this list is for books, but "Mad Magazine" has been a kid favorite for a long time, and most of the humor there is ironic. They make fun of hit movies, current fads, and everything else, and kids definitely get it and appreciate it
(though not all kids get all of it). I don't think that type of humor is covered too well in books for kids and young adults, though people like Scieszca, Smith, and Wisniewski have definitely contributed lately.
-------------------------------------------------------Steven Engelfried, West Linn Public Library 1595 Burns Streeet West Linn, OR 97068 ph: 503e6x57 fax: 503e6'46 e-mail: steven at westlinn.lib.or.us
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Received on Sat 23 May 1998 02:18:16 PM CDT