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Sidney Fleischman (1920 to 2010) was born in Brooklyn, New York and moved with his family when he was two years old to San Diego, California. He had loved magic tricks ever since he was a young boy and maintained that interest all his life. He was a journalist and author of books for adults. In 1962, he drew on his fondness for magic tricks to write Mr. Mysterious and Company, his first of many successful novels for children (see my review). His novels are known for their quirky characters, light-hearted humor, interesting plots and colorful villains, and an emphasis on the importance of families. Fleischman won the 1987 Newbery Medal at age 67, for his book, The Whipping Boy.
Among his many books, Fleischman wrote quite a few that were shorter, designed for younger audiences in upper elementary to early middle school. His very funny McBroom series were in this vein. The two books reviewed here, The Ghost on Saturday Night and Me and the Man on the Moon-Eyed Horse are at this length and reading level also. They are set in the old West and both involve a very tricky criminal whose schemes are fooled by a young boy.
The villain of The Ghost on Saturday Night is Professor Pepper, who comes to a small town in California to present, in his dramatic performance, the ghost of an infamous bank robber. Our hero Opie, who lives with his Great-Aunt Etta and wants nothing more than a horse of his own, earns money towards a horse’s saddle by doing odd jobs and by escorting people through town when a heavy fog, called a tule fog, blankets the town. Is the ghost real (no, it is not)? Why does the Professor want to do his show in the large room over the bank? Is he a charlatan or someone with real power over ghosts? And will justice be done? Even a reluctant elementary school reader will be drawn to devour this book, since the story is so much fun!
Me and the Man on the Moon-Eyed Horse is set in a little town in Arizona, where there is nothing for Clint to do for entertainment than race tumbleweeds in the ever-present wind. However, the train does come through the town – in real life, the trains in the late 1800s and early 1900s and the associated telegraphs, which followed the train tracks, played a huge role in interconnecting people across America. The train tracks were the first network that connected everyone. In some ways, this was the first Internet – such connectivity had never before existed. Clint’s grandfather and big sister Elvira operate the telegraph at the train station. The villain is Step-and-a-half Jackson, the notorious train wrecker and robber, so named since he always stayed 1.5 steps ahead of the law. But this time, he is going to wreck and rob the circus train, which Clint is desperate to see! A rollicking story of robbers, posses, velvet curtains, dentures, Morse code, and a brave intelligent boy seeing through deception with clear eyes.