ALA Booklist

After Emaline, 11, is crippled by an accident with her father's tractor in 1965, Daddy kills her beloved dog, Prince, and walks away from the farm on the Saskatchewan prairie. Mom takes in Angus from the local mental hospital to help with the farm work, but the neighbors jeer and complain about the sub-human crazy man on the loose. Emaline never denies Angus' illness, but she sees his kindness and strength, and they help each other with their work and with their grief. Narrated by Emaline in short lines of free verse, the story is a very easy read, its plain, lyrical words capturing the beauty of the flat prairie under the huge sky and the sounds of wind, trains, and coyotes in the night, as well as the harsh community prejudice. The poetry is in the details, both immediate and universal: Angus helps Emaline tie her shoelaces, and he wakes her to the glory of the northern lights.

Horn Book

Set on the early-sixties Canadian prairie, this accomplished first-person verse novel follows the changes in twelve-year-old Emaline's life after a tractor accident almost severs her leg. Her guilt-ridden father leaves home, and her mother hires Angus, a huge but gentle man from the local mental institution, to help on the farm. Porter's language is appropriately down-to-earth, and the story is thoughtful and moving.

School Library Journal

Gr 5 Up-This beautifully written novel in verse tells the story of a 12-year-old girl struggling to recover after a freak farm accident leaves her partially crippled and fatherless. Her dad, after shooting the dog that he blames for the tractor mishap, walks out on her and her mother, leaving them to tend the farm by themselves. After a long and painful hospital stay, Emaline returns home to a distraught mother who doesn't have any help sowing the fields. When several conventional plans fall through, the woman decides to bring in a patient from the local mental hospital to drive the tractor and sow the fields. Angus, a gentle giant, slowly gains the trust of Emaline and her mother through his hard work and his kindness to people and animals alike. Despite the town's grumblings about how dangerous Angus must be, he is allowed to continue working on the farm, but not without enduring much cruelty from neighbors and townspeople. It is only when he performs the ultimate act of heroism that others in the town finally recognize Angus's worth as a human being. Emaline is a rich character full of conflicting emotions about her father, her mother, and her strange new family. Subtle in its themes and organization, this book is pure pleasure, offering lessons about love, loyalty, and loss.-Julie Webb, Shelby County High School, Shelbyville, KY Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Voice of Youth Advocates

It is 1965, and twelve-year-old Emaline's family has fallen apart. When her beloved dog, Prince, chased a rabbit into the path of the tractor, she ran after him, and her father accidentally ran over her leg, leaving her permanently disabled. But the worst thing is that as a result, her father shot Prince and then disappeared, leaving Emaline and her mother on their own to take care of their wheat farm. Out of desperation, Emaline's mother hires Angus, a patient from the local mental hospital, to plant and care for their crops. The townspeople are afraid of Angus and misunderstand him, so by hiring him, Emaline and her mother become outcasts in the community. But Emaline develops a friendship with Angus that helps her to deal with her own injury as well as the abandonment by her father. The author uses free verse to tell this moving, gritty story, making it accessible to a wide range of ages and reading abilities. It is amazing how much emotion and character Porter manages to convey with so few words. The character of Emaline and her experiences are gut-wrenching at times, such as the confusion that she feels about her father's leaving. The innocent wisdom expressed by Angus is extraordinary, especially when he tells Emaline how he managed to forgive his mother for the abuse he suffered, "But Angus didn't know how / to forgive, / So in my mind I put her in a basket. / Put balloons on the basket. / In my mind. And I let her rise / up into the sky, / till she was a wee speck." The end of the book, however, is not completely satisfying. The subplot of Angus and Joey, a local boy whom Angus rescues, feels rushed and tacked on, and the story of Emaline's father just seems to fall apart without a resolution. But there are enough wondrous moments to make it a good read and worth recommending to young teens.-Julie Roberts.