Bold Crossings

by Lance Elliot Osborne

Based on true tales of survival and adventure, a settler boy's journal, and the recorded reminiscences of a venerable Comanche woman, "Bold Crossings" is the multicultural story of early teens who survive countless hardships and buck traditions as they come of age on the deadly plains of 1830's Texas.Malcolm Hornsby is a lanky 13-year-old who longs for more than life on a farm. More than anything, he wishes to read books and work with his hands at modern machines of iron and steel. Instead, he travels with his family 800 miles, from bucolic Mississippi to the middle of the most hostile territory in America and home to the Penatuka, fiercest of the Comanche bands. Wukubuu is a Penatuka of 13 full seasons who prefers the hunt and ways of healing to the tedium of working skins. After one too many adventures goes wrong, she loses hope of ever seeing her family and band again. That is, until she crosses paths with a lanky 13-year-old Taiboo who is good with his hands and simple machines…including locks.Get ready to experience the 19th century like never before in this uniquely American historical novel. Author Lance Elliot Osborne has masterfully crafted this book with thorough research and compelling storytelling. "Bold Crossings" is a must-read book filled with timeless themes that transcend any era of history.

Genres: Historical Fiction

275 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2014

Reviews

[Rose Auburn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in the early nineteenth century, Bold Crossings unfurls the stories of two thirteen-year-olds from very different worlds but who are more similar than they realize, especially when those worlds collide.

Malcolm (“Mal”) Hornsby leaves Mississippi to travel with his family hundreds of miles to the harsh, unknown of the Texas plains and Wukubuu, a girl from the Penatuka band of the Native American Comanche tribe, and for whom the unforgiving Texas landscape is home. Neither Mal nor Wukubuu are keen to follow their respective families’ direction for them, but do they have any real option?...

Bold Crossings opens with a contemporary prologue, it’s brief but effective. The prose is precise, purposeful, and provides an intriguing, thought-provoking opener. This curiosity is consolidated as Osborne transports the reader back to Christmas 1829 and teenager Mal Hornsby, who is reluctantly departing Mississippi for Texas.

Mal immediately steps off the page, his wonderfully rustic and expressive voice distinct without being forced. Consequently, his journal entries are absorbing in their candor and authenticity. He is an immensely likable young man, with a strong seam of integrity and an inherent decency.

Mal’s counterpart, Wukubuu, is equally as individual and compelling. Osborne discloses her story slightly differently from Mal’s but in parallel. Her spirited, questioning yet mournful voice resonates with Penatukan culture and her perceived role within their traditions.

Both main protagonists are, in many ways, experienced beyond their years but emotionally vulnerable within their family units. Although Wukubuu and Mal’s voices are clearly defined, there is a related cohesive fluidity and rhythm to their language which is gently complementary.

Further, as their narratives draw closer together, Osborne knits subtle threads of similarity from thought processes to community events through the teenagers’ stories and weaves delicately recurring motifs and symbolism between the two.

Although Mal and Wukubuu drive the novel, the characters and events that surround them are just as accurate, convincing, and engaging. The degenerate stink of slave trader, Jacques Boucher emanates from the page and I suspect his surname was no coincidence.

Wukubuu’s brother, Wowoki is full of fire and her aunt, Muutsi, is a tough, brooding woman who suffered her own share of heartbreak. Areas of the novel are harrowing in their brutality and hardship. The benefit of reader hindsight imbues the plot with a touch of foreknowledge, and, subsequently the bitter taste of known futility.

An integral element of Bold Crossings is the climate and geography of Texas which Osborne brings alive to a sensory degree. It serves as both enemy and friend to the teenagers and their tribes. Indeed, the research and wealth of knowledge Osborne has brought to bear on Bold Crossings is astonishing. Not only is the novel an extraordinarily immersive read, but it’s also immensely interesting from an educational aspect and several themes have sharp, contemporary relevance.

Occasionally, Mal and Wukubuu’s separate narratives could have been a little longer in context and delineated a little clearer but the desperate poignancy that swells in their stories as misunderstandings and mayhem escalate becomes enhanced by the rapid change in voice.

Osborne could have taken the easy, expected trajectory with the teenagers, but instead, he leaves the pair with their personal stories intact rendering them and their fate all the more powerful. It’s a profound ending with a light brush of allegory that gives much to ponder upon.

Bold Crossings thoroughly and comprehensively absorbs the reader into its narrative, characters, and environment. Osborne has written a beautifully genuine and captivating story, skilfully blending historical fact and insight with fiction. Highly recommended.

[Gina Rae Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

While Bold Crossing started a bit slow for me, I think it was because I was getting used to the epistle style of the book. It’s written from a dual point of view in alternating journal entries featuring two young people in the early days of wild Texas. One is a young girl from the Penatuka tribe of the Comanche. Her counterpart is Malcolm, the same age, but recently immigrated to Texas on the hard trail from Mississippi.

Once I settled into the story, I was captivated. Wukubuu and Malcolm both struggled with the direction of their life. Wukubuu was learning the healing arts from her grandmother and had no desire to marry and be subject to her husbands rule. Malcolm longed to read and work with machines rather than farming the new homestead in Texas.

It’s difficult to remember that Bold Crossings is fact-based fiction. Every word of this story built a picture of the past that played like a movie in my head. The author’s amazing research into the era brought the period to life.

I absolutely adore learning new facts from historical fiction. The entirety of this book is a learning experience. I now know new phrases in many languages including Comanche, Spanish, French, and Gaelic. Thank you Mr. Osborne for including the glossary, although I could have used a pronunciation guide, too. The story presents a view of early Texas that is vivid, real, and far different from what I learned in school many…many years ago.

The book has themes that are just as relevant today as they were back then. Battles of race, women’s rights, and family strife are sadly still being fought today. We need to do better. The polar-opposite lives of the two protagonists in reality show that we aren’t that different from each other. I am struck by how the author was able to weave so many lessons into this story while presenting it as gripping fiction.

It’s rare these days for a book to get the best of my emotions, but I lived every bit of this tale along with the characters. And I’m not ashamed to say I was crying my heart out by the end. Bold Crossings gets my highest recommendation as an emotional, entertaining, and educational historical fiction novel.


I received a digital copy of Bold Crossings from the author or publisher. This review is my honest, unbiased opinion.

[Heather Barksdale · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Bold Crossings” introduces two main characters and POVs interspersed within this tale. The first follows 13-year-old Malcom ‘Mal’ Hornsby as he and his family as they travel from Mississippi to Texas in the 19th century. The second follows another 13-year-old, Wukubuu, a Penatuku girl who yearns for more than what her family is expecting of her.

Overall, I enjoyed this story. The book is written from each of the 13-year-old’s POVs as if they are writing in their diary’s about their thoughts and adventures. I wish there was some sort of page break or introduction between changing POVs as I had to often re-read the first paragraph after the switch and not realizing that the POV had changed. Having said that, I really liked each of the main characters, their very distinctive voices, and how they described their emotions and experiences. I also liked how the author incorporated many of the more uncomfortable portions of US history without shying away from it or moving past it quickly. Find the full blog post at heatherlbarksdale.com

I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.

[Sharon]

While it took me a minute to get into it, the story of settling Texas in the 1830's told from the perspective of two teens, one an Anglo male, the other a Comanche girl was captivating. The author, Lance Elliot Osborne, captures the setting, the changing times, the beautiful yet often dangerous terrain, and the challenges coming of age in a difficult period. The history is impeccably researched; the story draws the reader in and never lets go. Good for middle schoolers on up.

[Liz Young · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gripping account of two adolescents- an Anglo boy and a Native American girl - and how their lives are intertwined in the 1830’s in the areas of the Brazos and Colorado rivers in what is now Texas. This book is based on actual historical accounts from that time period. Wonderful book! I learned a lot about the extreme hardships of both pioneer and Native American life. Great book for the junior high age group, and could serve as the nucleus of an all-school, interdisciplinary study.

[Becky Shea Head · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book!

I truly could not put it down! The characters were real and (most of them) lovable. Research definitely top notch!