Grace and the Guiltless

August 25, 2014
Johnson debuts with an atmospheric Western, first in the Wanted series, starring vigilante Grace Milton. When the brutal Guiltless Gang, led by Elijah Hale, slaughters Grace's entire family in order to steal their silver-rich ranch, Grace narrowly escapes with her wild stallion, Bullet, and her father's gun. Since Hale has the crooked sheriff in his pocket, Grace must seek justice on her own. After a short time in the Arizona desert, she and Bullet are injured and dehydrated. An English boy, Joe, who was long ago adopted by the Ndeh (Apache) tribe, rescues her, teaching her to fight and survive. Nearly everyone Grace meets advises her to move on or turn to the law for help, but her stubbornness and determination drive her forward. Johnson delivers cinematic action and striking descriptions of the landscape typical of the genre, and a dusting of romance enriches Grace's life without becoming the main impetus driving her or the story. By the end, Grace's quest has just begun, and readers should be taken with how she has evolved into a gutsy, cutthroat heroine. Ages 14âup.

June 1, 2014

Gr 7-10-Johnson remains faithful to standard Western lore in this historical fiction novel: a young person seeks revenge on outlaws. Predictability notwithstanding, the story opens with a shocking scene that paints a vivid picture and will capture readers' attention. Grace witnesses the death of her entire family at the hands of the Guiltless Gang. After realizing that the sheriff is in cahoots with the Guiltless, the teen wastes no time hopping onto her trusty horse and heading into the wilderness on their trail. The author creates a likable and relatable character in the protagonist, yet Grace's mannerisms and experience seem more like those of a modern teen. Namely, she lacks basic survival skills. After eating poisonous berries and almost dying, Joe, a young traveling preacher, finds her and brings her to the Ndeh tribe who nurse her back to health. In Joe, Grace finds a kindred spirit and burgeoning romance. He has also lost his family to violence and the Ndeh have raised him. The protagonist appreciates their kindness and learns the ways of the warrior from them, yet she cannot ."..walk in happiness, let the hurt go" as they do, and as everyone else in the book advises. A revenge epic in the vein of True Grit.-Laura Falli, McNeil High School, Austin, TX

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 15, 2014
After the Guiltless Gang murders her family and burns their cabin, Grace is determined to bring the evildoers to justice.Naively, Grace heads to Tombstone, Arizona, to ask the sheriff to go after the men-but of course, he is being paid to look the other way. In town, she is defended from an importunate cowboy by a young man who looks Apache (but isn't); he rescues her again in the desert. Joe is his name, and his adoptive father is the leader of a community of Chiracahua, as the Apache prefer to call themselves. They will provide her with a new place to belong, if she will allow it. The Native American characters are, with one exception, amazingly gracious and welcoming, despite Grace's bumbling ignorance-Joe's infodump explanations of their customs usually come a bit too late to save her. A young girl named Sequoyah (readers familiar with the famous Cherokee linguist will be nonplussed by this) is witness to the growing attraction between Grace and Joe. This romance disguised as a survival tale that's in turn disguised as historical fiction has a few believable moments, but they are usually disrupted by Grace's repetitive internal dialogue in which she admonishes herself to put her vengeance first.Lots of action, blood and death argue eloquently against those telling Grace to forgive and move on. Only the sequel will reveal her choice. (Western. 14-18)

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August 1, 2014
Grades 9-12 An ordinary night on the Milton Ranch ends in tragedy when 17-year-old Grace witnesses the cold-blooded murder of her family by the Guiltless Gang. With the town sheriff on the gang's payroll, it's up to Grace to bring them to justice, but her desire for vengeance far outweighs her abilities. Starving and badly injured, Grace is rescued by Joe, an orphaned settler who was raised by a tribe of Apaches after his own family was murdered. As Grace slowly regains her strength, Joe teaches her the hunting and survival skills she needs to track down the Guiltless Gang, but will she be able to leave him when the time comes? Johnson adheres to the well-established conventions of the western genre but provides a modern twist through Grace's contemporary demeanor. Secondary characters are alternately stereotypical or highly romanticized, resulting in a world that is not quite fully realized, but the cinematic quality and rapid pacing should keep readers engaged. The cliff-hanger ending and a plethora of unanswered questions guarantee an exciting sequel.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)