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Shop nowHard Gold
This audiobook uses AI narration.
Weāre taking steps to make sure AI narration is transparent.
Learn moreEarly Whitcomb's family needs a miracle. Their Iowa farm has been in the family for generations, but a long drought has withered their savings and left them in debt. Meanwhile, the great Chicago and Northwestern Railroad wants their land, and if the Whitcombs can't pay their loans, the local banker, Judge Fuslin, will foreclose and sell the farm as his own. Early's uncle (though he's more like a brother), Jesse, thinks he has the solutionāto head West and dig for gold.
Fueled by reports of prospectors striking it rich in the Rocky Mountains, Jesse can't think about anything but gold, and his determination to get to the western territories grows stronger by the day. Early is wild to go with him, as much for the adventure as for the gold. But the journey costs moneyāmore than the boys can affordāand when Jesse flees during the night, after being accused of a robbery, Early doesn't know what to believe. Then Jesse sends an electrifying messageāthat he has found gold, but his life is in dangerāand Early knows he must do whatever it takes to find him, even if it means running away and joining a wagon train with a strange family.
The journey is dangerous and full of hardships, and the closer the travelers get to their destination, the more ruined lives they encounterālives consumed by the hunt for gold. Then to his horror, Early learns that Jesse has been accused of another, much bigger crime and has fled to a secret place in the mountains. Somehow, Early must get to him without leading Jesse's pursuers right to his door. And even if he succeeds, Early will still have to make the hardest choice of his life.
Avi's many acclaimedĀ books forĀ young readers include the Newbery Medal-winning Crispin: The Cross of Lead andĀ the Newbery Honor booksĀ Nothing But the Truth: A Documentary Novel and The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle as well asĀ The Fighting Ground, Poppy, and The Secret School.Ā He lives in Colorado.Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā
Alston Brown is an actor and writer, currently enrolled as an MFA candidate in the Brown University / Trinity Repertory Companyās acting program. He has worked extensively in theater in New York and regionally, including workshops of the Broadway play Next Fall and at the Sundance Institute, and appeared in the film Observe and Report. Alston lives in Providence, Rhode Island.
Reviews
āThe detailed, authentic touches of history and adventure are a good combination for readers who might resist straight nonfiction.ā
āAlston Brownās easy pace is well suited to descriptions of boundless opportunities and the wide-open prairie. Brown is the personification of innocence and naivete as he describes this bookās romantic visions of Colorado gold. The story is told by fourteen-year-old Early Whitcomb. Brown subtly differentiates between characters, allowing Earlyās earnestness and Uncle Jesseās charisma to distinguish them.ā
āWhat will make this interesting for readers who like action is the relentless foreshadowing of evil and heartbreak, the short chapters, the trademark Avi cliffhangers, sharp attention to interesting (but not overwhelming) historical detail.ā
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