Hemi: A Mule

by Barbara Brenner

The adventures of a mule who, after being sold to the army, decides to go back and find the farmhand who once befriended him.

Genres: Animals

120 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 1973

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads database.

Barbara Brenner is a respected, award-winning author, specializing in works of both juvenile fiction and nonfiction educational material that deals with animals, nature, and ecology. Her interests range from the natural world (i.e. Thinking about Ants) to American history (e.g. Wagon Wheels), all of which are reflected in the wide scope of her work. Brenner discussed with Contemporary Authors Online her influences and how they have affected her literary career, concluding that “all the circumstances of my life conspired to make me a writer--just lucky, I guess.”
Brenner was born Barbara Lawrence on June 26, 1925, in Brooklyn, New York, to Robert Lawrence (a real estate broker) and Marguerite (Furboter) Johnes. Tragically, her mother died when Brenner was just a year old, and, according to Brenner, this has been a large influence on her career, with Contemporary Authors Online showing how this has added a certain level of “sensitivity” to her work. She also defines Brooklyn as a place which gave much “color” to her work, and where her father’s ambitions for her helped to develop Brenner’s intellectual curiosity.
Brenner attended Seton Hall College (now University) and Rutgers University from 1942-46, whilst also working as a copy editor at Prudential Insurance Co. from 1942 – 46. Her freelance work as an artist’s agent prepared her for a literary life, as after the birth of her two children she began work on her first book Somebody’s Slippers, Somebody’s Shoes, published in 1957. She followed this book with an educational picture book entitled Barto Takes the Subway, designed to improve reading comprehension and sight vocabulary.
Her artistic development continued when she began to collaborate with her husband, illustrator Fred Brenner, on The Flying Patchwork Quilt. Her next book, On the Frontier with Mr. Audubon, was selected by School Library Journal as “The Best of the Best” among children’s books published over 26 seasons. In a review of On the Frontier with Mr. Audubon, Paul Showers wrote in the New York Times Book Review that “Brenner again demonstrates her gift for invention and respect for facts . . . [it is] written in the polite but colloquial language of the frontier sketching in Audubon’s biographical background and recording events of the journey as they might have been observed by a serious, very perceptive 13- year-old.” One of her best-selling titles was Wagon Wheels (published in 1978), which deals with the trials and tribulations of a close-knit African American family. This true to life story is “exciting and realistic” according to Gisela Jernigan (writing in the children literature journal Booklist), and was named a 1978 American Library Association Notable Book.
Throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s Brenner continued to publish, many of her works being influenced by the careers and interests of her sons. Speaking to Contemporary Authors Online Brenner explains that as their sons are both grown, and their respective careers as a “biologist . . . and musician” have both had an influence on her writing (i.e. Dinosaurium 1993). In 1986, Brenner was honored with the Pennsylvania School Librarians’ Association’s Outstanding Pennsylvania Author Award. Brenner’s most celebrated book is a collection entitled Voices: Poetry and Art from around the World, for which she was chief editor. This book received an ALA Notable Book for Children mention and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults award. According to the Horn Book Guide from Spring 2001, “more than three hundred and fifty poems from six continents evoke the specific and the universal” with contributions from both “celebrated and unknown poets, Nobel prize winners, and children” allowing the book to demonstrate Brenner’s skill in celebrating “place” and the “shared feelings” of the people about whom the book is written.

Reviews

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a gem of a book. There's just not many books about mules. They are intelligent, can easily learn how to open gates, and often refuse to move when overworked. Lots of true mule facts are in this unpredictable little story. Not everything is right -- sometimes female mules are fertile. It's also not known if mules can read, but I wouldn't put it past them. Mules are also fed candy bars, which I really don't recommend.

Our Heroic Mule, given an unpronounceable Greek name, is often called Hemi for short. He has an idyllic colthood, where he meets a young African-American named Melville, who works for Hemi's owner. Sadly, the two get separated. Hemi's quest is to find Melville again.

Hemi meets a lot of other animals during his quest, including a corn snake and a Stellar's Jay. All of the animals can talk to each other ... but not to people. The illustrations are lovely, but the mules are given eerily human eyes.

The book's first sentence mentions mating. Sex education is also mentioned. Hemi's father is named Jackass. I think the book was meant for kids at least nine years old, but it's a fun read for adults, too. As an equine lover, I appreciated that Hemi's height was referred to in hands, and that his anatomy like fetlocks were given without explanation. I think the author knew horse lovers would be reading this.

It's currently up on The Open Library.

[Erika · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story in this book is fun, but there's a lot of the use of the word "jackass" or Hemi meaning "half ass" and a lot of specifics on breeding with mention of "sex education."

[Wayne Walker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hemionus, or Hemi for short, is a mule who lives on Mr. Parkhurst’s farm with his father Jackass, mother Mare, and friends such as Cow, Hen, and especially Melville, the farmer’s helper boy with whom Hemi forms an especially close bond. One day, Hemi’s father is sold and taken to “Parts Unknown.” Then one day Melville announces that he is leaving for the Agricultural College at Tucson, AZ. Finally, one day Hemi, replaced for plowing by a gravely tractor, is himself sold to the Army to become a mascot for their school’s football team.

There Hemi meets Jackson, the other mascot, and is well treated, but the loud noises at the football games hurt Hemi’s ears so he runs away and goes off in search of Melville. Along the way he is captured by a mean man who mistreats him. When Hemi reacts to the abuse by being stubborn, the mean man decides to sell him for money to the Meat Packer over in Lynchburg where he’ll be made into dog food. How can Hemi escape? If he does, what will happen to him? And will he ever find Melville?

Hemi: A Mule is a captivating story with a feel-good ending for young readers. It was a Weekly Reader Children’s Book Club presentation. There are a couple of common euphemisms (golly, durn), and when Hemi is rescued by a Native American girl out in Arizona and taken to live with her tribe during a drought, it is said that “The Indians came to see Dancing Eyes’ father and they sat and smoked and shook their heads sadly.” However, it is a pleasant tale, and its being written like the biography of a mule will please animal lovers.

[Avil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good for a good laugh at any age!!!