Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In 1899, Mick doesn't plan on being a silver miner like his father, but he gets caught up, against his will, in the violent standoff between his father's union and Idaho's Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mining Company. Despite mostly stock characters, the gritty saga, inspired by real events, compels readers to care about Mick and the other unjustly imprisoned union members and sympathizers. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

With his mother dead, his father imprisoned, and rent due, 14-year-old Mick must take responsibility for his family. But does this mean giving up his dream of college and becoming a newspaperman? Is he betraying his unionist father by taking a job in the mines as a non-union worker? Set in Idaho during the 1899 Coeur d'Alene mine disputes, when radicals blew up the ore-concentrating mill and Federal troops responded with mass arrests, Farrell's debut follows Mick as he works the mine, engineers a rescue of his father, and finds his own path in life. Fictional newspaper articles by Mick's mentor Mr. Delaney and a good author's note contribute historical and legal context for this story of family, dreams, and an important segment of American history. (Fiction. 10-14) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.