I really, really enjoyed Tess Hilmo’s first novel for children, With a Name Like Love. I think, had my expectations not been quite so high for her second book, Skies Like These, I would have enjoyed it a lot more. As it was, I did like it, but I didn’t get the full experience. That’s the trouble with Great Expectations.
On the other hand, the Tourism Bureau in Wyoming and maybe in neighboring states should buy copies of Skies Like These in bulk and give them out as advertisements. The book is paean to the wide open spaces of the western United States, particularly Wyoming. Ms. Hilmo writes of “Wyoming’s remarkable kaleidoscope skies” and “the strong, harsh rocks of the mountain range” and “apricot-tinted light” dissolving into the red dirt of the yard, and stars in the “complete, uninterrupted stillness of the night.” Then, she fleshes out those descriptions with a story that tells how Jade, a city girl from Philly, comes to love and appreciate the wonders of the great, wild west.
Unadventurous Jade has never been to visit her Aunt Elise in Wyoming until the summer before seventh grade. In fact, Jade has always spent her summers watching TV and reading and trying out recipes at home in Philadelphia, and she likes it that way. But Aunt Elise is all excited about Jade’s visit, and Jade’s parents think that Jade could use a little adventure in her summer. So Wyoming it is!
When she gets to Wyoming, Jade meets twelve year old Roy Parker, a wannabe cowboy who believes he’s a descendant of LeRoy Parker aka Butch Cassidy. “During their Wild West summer together, Roy helps Jade find her inner cowgirl, and jade helps Roy find himself.” (cover blurb) There’s no romance here, not even an intimation, just Jade and Roy, two friends, helping each other see and do things that neither of them would have seen or done on their own.
Skies Like These is a gentle story of growing up and learning to try new things and maybe let go of old things. It is quite similar in tone to With a Name Like Love, although set in the present day instead of the 1950’s, so if you liked that one, you’ll probably enjoy Skies Like These. Just don’t get over-expectant –unless you live in and love Wyoming. If you’re a Wyoming resident, you’ll probably want to give a copy to every child in Wyoming. (There aren’t that many, right?)
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This book is also nominated for a Cybil Award, but the views expressed here are strictly my own and do not reflect or determine the judging panel’s opinions.