Jimmy Spoon and the Pony Express

Jimmy Spoon #2

by Kristiana Gregory

In a fast-paced sequel to The Legend of Jimmy Spoon, young Pony Express rider Jimmy experiences more adventure than he could have imagined. By the author of Dear The Winter of Red Snow. Reprint.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Westerns, Adventure, Juvenile

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Kristiana Gregory grew up in Manhattan Beach, California, two blocks from the ocean. She's always loved to make up stories [ask her family!], telling her younger siblings whoppers that would leave them wide-eyed and shivering. Her first rejection letter at age ten was for a poem she wrote in class when she was supposed to be doing a math assignment. She's had a myriad of odd jobs: telephone operator, lifeguard, camp counselor, reporter, book reviewer & columnist for the LA Times, and finally author.

Her award-winning books include STALKED, which earned the 2012 Gold Medal for Young Adult Mystery from Literary Classics and is hailed as "historical fiction with a thrilling twist." KIRKUS calls it "an atmospheric confection that will thrill YA readers ... Gregory achieves a realistic, rich atmosphere with insightful details about the immigration process and New York tenements in the early 1900s." Now available on Kindle and in paperback.

JENNY OF THE TETONS [Harcourt] won the Golden Kite Award in 1989 and was the first of two-dozen historical novels for middle grade readers. Several of Kristiana's titles are now available on Kindle including "Curiously Odd Stories: Vol. 1 and Vol. 2" with the celebrated 'Paper Monument', a futuristic book-banning with horrific consequences.

BRONTE'S BOOK CLUB [Holiday House] is set in a town by the sea and is inspired by the girls' book club Kristiana led for several years.

Her most recent title with Scholastic's Dear America series is CANNONS AT DAWN, a sequel to the best-selling THE WINTER OF RED SNOW, which was made into a movie for the HBO Family Channel.

New re-releases in ebooks and paperback on Amazon:
**PRAIRIE RIVER SERIES #1-4
**ORPHAN RUNAWAYS: THE PERILOUS ESCAPE TO BODIE
**CABIN CREEK MYSTERIES #7: THE PHANTOM OF HIDDEN HORSE RANCH
**THE WAITING LIGHT: CLEMENTINE'S STORY -- originally titled "My Darlin' Clementine" [Holiday House] this riveting historical mystery takes place in an Idaho mining camp of 1866, and was Idaho's representative for the 2010 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the Library of Congress.

Kristiana and her husband have two adult sons, and live in Idaho with their two golden retrievers. In her spare time she loves to swim, walk, hike, read, and hang out with friends. She's trying to learn to knit, but isn't yet having much success.

Check out Kristiana's blogs at http://notesfromthesunroom.blogspot.com/ for behind-the-scenes stories about her books, and with photos from her childhood.

Reviews

[BradleyDunkin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The main character in this book Jimmy Spoon. He is a boy that wants a job with the pony express. He goes to the try outs and the boss instantly hires Jimmy because of how good he is with a horse. When he gets to his kind of like dorm he starts to hear about the indians and what they have been doing. This doesn't stop Jimmy from doing the job. He goes out on his first ride and is fine that ride, he hears about the indians some more. He is not a new rider now and he is in a station taking a bath and Lillian walks in she is a girl from back at his home town. After she leaves Jimmy goes back to carrying the mail. Later on in the story Jimmy sees this horse and buggy going crazy and he isn't supposed to but he goes and gets it stopped and Lillian is in the wagon and her luggage got stolen by the indians Jimmy says hi to Lillian and then gets back to work again. Later on Lillian sends Jimmy a note and it is asking if Jimmy will marry her but Jimmy liked another girl from another family he used to be close with. A little while after Jimmy gets done with his contract with the pony Express he goes and tries to look for the girl he likes which is back with the Shasonis who Jimmy lived with for a while when he ran away from home. He is going and looking for this girl he has liked all along.I liked this book because it is kind of about adventure and I like to read adventure it gets me interested in the book. That is why I give this book a 4.

[Brian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jimmy Spoon and the Pony Express By: Kristiana Gregory Brian Bredemann
Reading 8-McG
Book Review 5/26/08

Through the rigorous and cliff-hanging adventures and funny and sad emotions that Jimmy Spoon, the main character, came across in this novel, I would recommend this book to anyone who loves adventure and historical fiction. The book had a marvelous plotline in each and every page, the characters were described tremendously in their features and actions, and when I read this book, it made my mind want to travel back in time to the times of the Pony Express. However, I did feel that the book did not tie some loose ends to the book, compared to some similar books I have read earlier, and that disappointed me because I was looking forward to knowing what happened to about two conflicts at the end of the book. Overall, this was one of my favorite Bingo Books I read this round, and I would give it an eight out of ten.

166 words

[Cinnamon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jimmy Spoon is bored with life in Salt Lake City. After spending years with the Shoshoni Indians, Jimmy wants more adventure than his father's store can offer. When he sees an ad in the paper from Russell, Majors, and Waddell looking for young men to ride for the Pony Express, Jimmy sees that this could be the chance he's been looking for. He meets the qualifications- young, slim, able to ride, willing to risk life and limb-, so he signs up. Jimmy is stationed at Ruby Valley, Nevada, where he will ride 50-100 miles between stations to deliver the mail. It is not an easy life. Jimmy must face Indians, weather, outlaws, settlers and the threat of war.

Good adventure for boys who like westerns.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a follow-up to the first Jimmy Spoon novel where he spends two years living with a Shoshone band. Back in Salt Lake City with his family, he reads an ad in the Deseret News for Pony Express riders & joins up. He has some adventures, meets some famous people, & finally finds peace of mind. As always, Gregory's historical fiction for young readers is informative & entertaining.

[Marissa]

this book is not something I would normally read. This book takes place in the 1860's and is about how people traveled mail back then, which was by horses. One of the characters in the book is names jimmy and he is one of the boys that traveled to give letters to people. its pretty good.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good thing that this time in history was short lived, because of the danger and brutality of the job.

[Terry Filkohazi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such an exciting story! I liked all the characters. I'm so glad things worked out for Jimmy. I just purchased book #1 as I didn't realize that it was a 2 book series.

[Taneysha forsyth · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a fast-paced sequel to The Legend of Jimmy Spoon, young Pony Express rider Jimmy experiences more adventure than he could have imagined. By the author of Dear America: The Winter of Red Snow.My favorite part is Having returned from living with his friends, seventeen-year-old Jimmy Spoon, a Shoshoni, grows restless again and seeks adventure by taking a job with the Pony Express. You can find this book in ms.woodard 's libary

[Miss Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

gr 5-7 120 pgs.


1860, West. 18 year old Jimmy Spoon once again leaves his family to join the pony express. He feels torn between two worlds as he tries to decide whether or not to return to the Shoshoni.

The focus on the book was Jimmmy's trying to decide which world he felt he belonged in. I think this book could have been shorted to two chapters added to the previous book "The Legend of Jimmy Spoon". I had hoped it would talk more about the pony express.

[TrevorCoffman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that this book was a pretty good book. This book was about a boy named Jimmy Spoon that is 18 years old. He wants to join the pony express. The boys who want to be with the pony express have to try out. The guy who gets the boys for the pony express knew right away that Jimmy was going to be with the pony express. When Jimmy is taking the mail to the next place to be mailed he has to watch out for Indians so he doesn't get killed or get his horse stolen.

[Tiffany Tilton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book for older elementary students to use as book report selection; it is also good for a lesson on "Wild West" days in America and America's history; this book would be great for teaching students about America's first postal system. Good historical fiction!

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Its about a white boy that almost gets kidnapped but instead they ask him if he wants to go. He was a gift to a indian morther because she had a dream that one day she would have another son. He runs away from his real family to live with the indians!!!!

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this aloud to my family on our weekend trip to Idaho. My boys all really enjoyed it. The writing wasn't that fantastic, something that may not have been as noticeable had I been reading it on my own. Nice book for those who like historical fiction.

[Lauri · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sequel to Jimmy Spoon. The kids love to find out what happened to Jimmy later in his life.

[Wendi · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun read and a great extension to The Legend of Jimmy Spoon. I would consider this a must read for a fourth grade student.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good story about the Pony Express. I liked this Jimmy Spoon adventure better than the first one.

[Cws]

W JFGre

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book is CRACK i like this book allot you will like this book if your into western stuff and indian times you could FIND THIS BOOK IN WOODYS LIBARY!!!!!!!!!!