Though himself a free man, Prometheus Jones' father was a slave who was sold away from his family. Now 13, Prometheus is determined to find the man he thinks of as "Mr. Jones" and April 1876 gns aboard a cattle drive that he hopes will ultimately take him to Texas and the reunion he longs for. In the meantime, however, the drive is headed north, through Indian country, bound for Deadwood in the Dakota Territory. Inspired in part by the real-life adventures of Nat Love, arguably the most famous of the nineteenth century's African American cowboys, Hemphill's novel offers a carefully researched look at the often uneasy circumstances of a black teenager on the American frontier. Prometheus is an always sympathetic and engaging character, and the dangers and misadventures he encounters en route to Deadwood make for compelling reading. True, what he finds there may strain some readers' credulity d feels a bit rushed in the bargain t most will welcome the stirring, action-packed conclusion to Prometheus' quest.

In 1876 Tennessee, African American Prometheus Jones, thirteen, is wrongly accused of stealing a winning raffle ticket. With his younger cousin Omer, Prometheus escapes with the prize, a one-eyed horse, and sets out to find his father. On the trail, the compelling, brutal realities of cowboy life share space with painstaking character development and vibrant dialogue in this memorable novel.

In the tradition of Nat Love comes a fictional black cowpoke, Prometheus Jones, and his best buddy, Omer Shine, escaping from a lynch mob in Tennessee to a Kansas cattle drive on its way to the Dakota Territory during the chaotic years following the end of the Civil War. Prometheus is anxious to get to Texas where clues about his missing father lead him, but he sees the advantages of throwing in with Beck, the drover in charge of the cattle herd. Not that he knows much about cattle, but he can break almost any horse and is determined to learn. The adventures are nonstop, with mentions of Custer and warring Pawnee and Sioux Indians adding to the excitement and danger of buffalo stampedes and river crossings. While most of the characters enjoy three-dimensional treatment, the Indians come across as insubstantial by comparison, demonstrating the difficulties in accurately reflecting attitudes of the day in light of present-day awareness. The prejudice against blacks remains threatening and constant, and Prometheus's transformation into Deadwood is convincing, even when insurmountable odds seem stacked against him. (Historical fiction. 10-12)

Gr 5-8 Prometheus Jones, born to a Tennessee slave on the same day Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, has always had good luck, and, at age 13, he wins a horse in a raffle. Before she died, "Mama always told I was the luckiest child on earth. Might ride that horse clear to Texas and never look back." Indeed, Prometheus uses his newly acquired transportation to flee the racist rednecks who accuse him of stealing the raffle ticket. Because of his exceptional skill with horses, he and his sidekick cousin are invited to join a cattle drive to South Dakota. Along the way, they get a taste of the Wild West during the time of Manifest Destiny, Indian wars, and gold rush prospectors. Inspired by the autobiography of African-American cowboy Nat Love, this notable Western shows a side of cowboy life rarely depicted: the diversity found among one of the few groups at the time that valued a man's talents over the color of his skin. Hemphill's convincing vernacular narration and well-researched, hard-bitten details of life in the South and on the western range give this adventure story surprising depth. The fast-paced plot, punctuated by Prometheus's astonishing wins and losses, will lasso readers' interest. Madeline Walton-Hadlock, San Jose Public Library, CA