Bringing Ezra Back [Hardcover]

Cynthia DeFelice (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up

September 1840 marks five months since twelve-year-old Nathan Fowler’s life-threatening encounter with Weasel, the heartless man who stalked Nathan like a wild animal through the forest. Nathan hasn’t been the same since, wary of every new person he meets – including the visiting peddler Orrin Beckwith. When Beckwith shows Nate and his family a handbill advertising a show with a “white Injun,” a man without a tongue, Nathan is sure the man is his friend Ezra, who lost his tongue to Weasel’s knife. Determined to save Ezra from this traveling show of “human oddities,” Nathan sets out with Beckwith from Ohio to Pennsylvania. On the way, Nathan encounters more people than he’s ever met before, and he begins to learn a thing or two about human nature. The biggest shock, however, is Ezra himself, and it will take more than Nathan bargained for to bring him back home.
 
This long-anticipated sequel to Weasel is a masterful adventure story, in which Nathan Fowler triumphs over the legacy of fear left him by the villain Weasel.

 

Bringing Ezra Back is a 2007 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-7–A worthy sequel to Weasel (S & S, 1990), DeFelices beloved tale of Ohios frontier in the 1840s. As that story ends, Nathan Fowler has experienced evil incarnate in the form of Weasel, a mercenary trained to hate the areas Shawnee. Nathans father nearly died by Weasels treachery, but Ezra Ketcham, a white neighbor who was married to a Shawnee woman, saved him, and then left to seek his wifes people. As this story begins, Nathan has learned that a freak show is displaying Ezra as a White Injun. Traveling with a peddler of dubious reputation, he sets off to find him and bring him home. Only 12, Nathan has become shy of strangers after his experience with Weasel, and he must learn to read people, to hone his instincts. He relies on his practical frontier background, and a great deal of courage, to get his friend home. His biggest surprise is that Ezra seems to be only a husk of his former self. On top of the physical challenge of returning from Western Pennsylvania to his Ohio home, Nathan must reconnect to Ezras soul. Told in Nathans voice, this adventure treats readers to a double-dip cliff-hanging plot and heart-searing maturation.–Pat Leach, Lincoln City Libraries, NE
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-6. In this sequel to Weasel (1990), 12-year-old Nathan, accompanied by peddler Owen Beckwith, journeys to Pennsylvania, searching for Ezra, the man left mute as a result of Weasel's savagery. Since the events of the previous year, Nathan has had great difficulty trusting people, so this journey offers him insight into the ways of the world and needed skills in judging human nature. When he finally locates Ezra, who is being held captive by the owner of a freak show, it takes all Nathan's new expertise and more to rescue Ezra and help him return to Ohio. As always, DeFelice's finely nuanced characters shine: Nathan both matures and heals from his earlier scarring; Beckwith, a huckster with a good heart, supplies much insight into reading people; and Ezra, beaten down by life, can nevertheless respond to Nathan's kindness. Although not as tightly focused as the earlier book, this is a thoughtful adventure that will appeal to Weasel fans everywhere. Sally Estes
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (August 8, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374399395
• ISBN-13: 978-0374399399
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,094,414 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Kids' Book, May 23, 2007

By 

A. Schindler - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bringing Ezra Back (Hardcover)

Bringing Ezra Back is a sequel to DeFelice's Weasel (1990) and is set in 1840 on the Ohio Frontier. Twelve year old Nathan still has trouble trusting strangers since his frightening experience with a man named Weasel. When Nathan learns that his friend, Ezra, is in Pennsylvania with a traveling show of "human oddities", he knows he must find him and bring him home. As he journeys alongside a traveling peddler, he begins to watch people to learn about human nature, and discovers that not everyone is like Weasel. In the process, he also learns about his own strength.
While this book can stand alone, I would have had more insight into the characters involved if I had read Weasel first. From reviews I have read, that book seems to be much more suspenseful and mysterious than Bringing Ezra Back. However, this sequel is a good novel in its own right, and watching Nathan and other characters develop is quite interesting.

4.0 out of 5 stars A parent's review -- less disturbing than "Weasel", September 21, 2011

By 

M. Heiss (USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bringing Ezra Back (Hardcover)

In this follow-up novel to "Weasel," Nathan is 12 and hears about a circus of human monstrosities traveling around the country. One of the oddities sounds like a man who once saved his father's life -- Ezra. Nathan teams up with a traveling saleman to search for Ezra. He gets an education on human nature (the good and bad) along the way.

The circus is a dehumanizing and corrupt venture, and Nathan goes to some trouble to rescue Ezra. As they journey back to their home, Nathan slowly brings Ezra back to mental health.

This is an interesting and well-written book. Coming of age through service and self-reliance. I like this one. The story makes sense as a stand-alone book, even if your child has never read "Weasel"... which is good, because "Weasel" is very dark and disturbing.