By the Great Horn Spoon!

Just finished this fast little read. A friend recommended it to me during a discussion on books so I figured I'd give it a try. When I recommend books I usually hope people will take me seriously and so I try to take others' recommendations seriously in return.

Let me start with the cover art. I don't love it. I wish the cover art had been more similar to the whimsical art within the chapters.

The story is about a boy named Jack and his butler that set sail from Boston to the gold fields of California to make enough money to save Aunt Arabella's house. I like the quick pacing of the novel and the little stories that make up the larger narrative.

The way the author tells the story reminds me of Half Magic (which I highly recommend along with pretty much anything else by Edward Eager). The words and descriptions are simple and child-like in their quality (which I'm considering a good thing in this case).

After chapter one (which is quite short) I already had a genuine affection for the characters and wanted to keep reading. This isn't normally the kind of story I'd pick for myself or the type of thing I find myself interested in, but it was a good book. Give it a try, it won't take you long to read and it's worth the time.