Prairie Crossing: A Novel of the West

By David Pershing Hull

Book Overview

Prairie Crossing is about enduring values, a theme that emerges authentically through a fascinating, unusual, yet sensitive story about Maggie, a child prodigy who lives in a remote, rural town on the High Plains of Texas in the 1880s. It is an accurate and often humorous retelling of the strenuous challenges of life in this era-the violence, the piety, and the motley variety of personalities inhabiting these small frontier settlements in the west.

Maggie is an orphan whose casual prescience encourages grownups to think she can see the future. She mystifies her unschooled older brother, whose struggle to keep them together leads to a perilous mission, driving a cattle herd across the enormity and magnificent loneliness of the Llano Estacado.

As word spreads across the state about Maggie's remarkable abilities, she and her brother become the target of vicious kidnappers. The desperate search to find them involves colorful Texas heroes like William F. Cody and Charles Goodnight.

Prairie Crossing is an original work, written by a Texan whose forebears traveled from Georgia to the High Plains of Texas in a covered wagon.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0595705987
• ISBN13: 9780595705986
• Release Date: March 2008
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Length: 332 Pages
• Weight: 1.41 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Prairie Crossing

This was a very entertaining book. As the story unfolded, I did not want to put the book down. I became very invested in the characters and their plight. The main characters, Caleb and Maggie, were very engaging. All of the characters were interesting and well defined. The descriptions of the areas in Texas, where the story took place, painted clear landscapes in the minds of the reader. I would be very interested in a sequel that tells us more about Caleb and Liz's life in Texas, and Maggie's life in Boston.

Couldn't put it down

I was thoroughly captivated by this well-crafted story. As a West Texan myself, I enjoyed the early day setting of the Texas plains and surrounds. I found the characters interesting and believable. The interplay of fictional and fact was credible in the context of the story.

More please

Reviewed by Lisa Kisner for Reader Views (5/09) In 1880 Texas, Caleb Teague struggles to make a life for himself and his young sister, Maggie, following the death of their parents. Caleb does whatever it takes to provide for her, including driving cattle across the deadly plains of Texas and growing cotton, a new endeavor in this harsh land. Maggie Teague is three-years-old when this story begins and already shows maturity and education far beyond her years. People are fascinated by this precious cherub which leads to grand adventures, some as tame as getting a new pony and others that have the Teagues fighting for their lives. Readers will enjoy this taste of the old west with all its rough and tumble, complete with an intriguing cast of characters including the fabled William F. Cody, aka Buffalo Bill Cody. The character of Maggie tends to bring out the softness in almost all of the characters with even the roughest ones sometimes falling under her innocent charm and Caleb, her brother embodies all the grit and determination we associate with that time. I was drawn into "Prairie Crossing: A Novel of the West" from page one and stayed entranced until the very last page. The writing style made me feel like I was hearing the tale from someone who had been there. I could almost hear the "old west" accent in the narration. My only wish is that the author had filled in the fifteen years missing between Maggie's childhood and the end of the book. Perhaps Mr. Hull has plans to tell the tale of Maggie's adventures in another book. I will be waiting.

Real People In "Prairie Crossing"

My wife and I finished reading Prarie Crossing last night and I can tell you we were both thoroughly and emotionally engaged from the beginning through to the ending! Prairie Crossing is fun to read even though it brings tears to one's eyes from time to time. We became so attached to so many characters so quickly. That undoubtedly comes from the author's ability to make his characters come alive--to become people we might have known.