Skies Like These by Tess Hilmo (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Skies Like These by Tess Hilmo Amy Atkinson Hilmo, Tess Skies Like These. Ferguson/Farrar, 2014 [240p] ISBN 978-0-374-36998-9 $16.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 3-5 This summer, twelve-year-old Jade finds herself in Wyoming visiting her aunt, a former lawyer who left the rat race to run a doggy dude ranch. Though at first uneasy, if not unhappy, at leaving Philadelphia, Jade soon finds herself enjoying the west, with its fast-moving storms, open spaces, and vast, starry night skies. It helps that she receives a warm welcome from her aunt and the pooches at her dog-boarding business, as well as from the neighboring Parkers, whose son Joshua goes by “Roy” and insists that his lineage traces to a more famous Roy Parker—the Robin Hood cowboy, Butch Cassidy. Upset that a new big box store put his father’s hardware shop out of business, Roy tries to rope Jade into scheme after scheme worthy of Butch and his sidekick, the Sundance Kid; though Jade’s spirit of adventure certainly grows over the summer, she draws the line at robbing a bank, and she struggles to find a more constructive way to help her new friend. This novel succeeds in its celebration of the west, but it falls short in skillful execution of story, with stilted exposition, unnatural dialogue, and limited characterization for Jade (though spunky Roy proves engaging and sympathetic). Audiences looking for a quick escape may nonetheless enjoy the Wyoming landscape and its trappings, and puppy-lovers will enjoy the four-legged background characters whose names and personalities imbue this novel with a little spirit. [End Page 29] Copyright © 2014 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois