Module 10: Crosswire

Summary

Crosswire is of the historical fiction genre and set in the early Western days (late 1800s) when the Texas Rangers were pursuing outlaws, which were rather rampant at the time. Ethan, an older and somewhat defiant son, manages to convince his younger brother, Jessie, to steal away with him to a saloon, where he has been gambling away his father's life savings. Jessie, unbeknownst to the fact that the money Ethan uses is actually his father's stolen money, eyes a stranger with a cowboy hat and steely eyes at the bar. This stranger is Jackson Wade. After Ethan is caught by his father and disowned, Jessie's mother shuts herself in her room, mourning the loss of her eldest boy, for days on end. Jessie and his father divide the duties to keep their poor farm up. In town, Jessie's father hires Mr. Wade, a man who supposedly doesn't even own a pistol, to help around the farm. He allows him to reside in the run-down shed at the end of their property. In the background, we have this story of some outlaws cutting fences and stealing precious water, a commodity that is running thin due to the drought. Jessie's suspicion of Mr. Wade continues to grow steadily, until Jessie is convinced he is actually one of the fence cutters. He breaks into the shed one night and discovers a pair of wire cutters and a very nice pistol that's been hidden away in a locked box. He takes the pistol with him and sets out to follow Mr. Wade in an effort to reveal his true identity to his father, who is in hot pursuit of the fence-cutters and in company of several other men. When Jessie finds Mr. Wade, he is indeed with two of the wire cutters. Jessie threatens at first, reveals the pistol he stole, and ends up tied down and in need of rescue. It is Jackson Wade that ends up being the hero, as he is actually a Texas Ranger pursuing the outlaw fence-cutters by pretending to be one of their own. Jessie earns favor in his father's eyes, Ethan comes home due to an injury caused by the bear traps his father set out, and Jackson Wade returns to his home in a different part of Texas. All ends well.

Personal Impressions

I absolutely love a good western any day, honestly. Western movies, western books--it really doesn't matter because I like it all. This book was extremely interesting and enjoyable for me. I've been fascinated with Texas history since childhood, and being a native Texan myself, I just love books about Texas. Dotti Enderle is also a native Texan and knows her stuff. I can tell she did research on the Texas Rangers and on this particular time period. The fence-cutters were very real, which she states in the afterword of the book. True, the characters are made up, but they are so believable. Their actions, words, and even emotions are resemblant of real people trying to defend what they have worked so hard to obtain. I did not find any of the characters or events too far-fetched. It's a very realistic story. After reading it, I recommended it to one of my students, who went to check it out. Our school library currently does not have a copy, but I mentioned to our school librarian that we need to get one. Anyone interested in Texas history will enjoy this book.

Professional Reviews

Library Media Connection

Enderle, Dotti
Crosswire
2010 144pp. $17.95 be. Calkins Creek (Boyds Mills
Press). 978-1-59078-751-9. Grades 6-10
WWMost stories of western farming are those of pioneers struggling against nature ro survive. What makes this story unique is that it chronicles the struggle to protect a family farm from wire-cutting cattlemen. Young Jesse, the youngest son of a cotton farmer in Texas, Is caught in the middle. Jesse's fear of firing a weapon puts him at odds with his father and older brother, Ethan. When Ethan is kicked out of the house because of his gambling, Jesse has to bear the brunt of the work and the horror of the wire-cutters. Jesse has to face his fear of firearms in order to save the life of their hired hand. This well written novel has believable characters in a historically accurate setting. The cattle wars of Texas are often glossed over, but they are full of adventure. Enderle does an excellent job of portraying the time period, the characters, and the wars. An afterword explains the cattle wars and how they were finally halted. Bibliography. Recommended. Sandi Jordet, Librarian, Brush (Colorado) Public Schools

Kirkus Reviews (October 1, 2010)

"Something there is that doesn't love a wall," says the voice in Frost's "Mending Wall," which is certainly the sentiment of the free-range cattlemen in 1883, when drought made them desperate enough to cut farmers' barbed-wire fences to get at water for their herds. Farmers reacted, setting off the Fence-Cutting Wars in Texas. Thirteen-year-old Jesse and his family are farmers, and when his father hires a mysterious man named Jackson to help in mending fences and fighting back, Jesse's too afraid of guns to be counted a man in this conflict. It's his coming-of-age story that will involve readers, who will feel the mounting tension as Jesse must eventually decide what it means to be a man in a conflict with no easy answers. A solid, unassuming prose style perfectly matches the Texas setting to tell a tale about a little-known but fascinating part of American history. Enderle writes with restraint, her research neatly woven into the story, her characters carefully drawn. A small gem of a story. (afterword, bibliography) (Historical fiction. 10 & up)

Library Uses

I actually think this book would be a great one for the librarian to pair with the social studies and ELAR teachers. So much history is in this book, despite that it is historical fiction. The ELAR teacher could use the librarian's help and expertise to conduct a research project over the cattle wars mentioned in the book while the students are reading the novel in class. The history teacher could have the students draw a map of placed where the fences were being cut or even map out the trails of the Texas Rangers. In a mini-study, the librarian could facilitate the research portion by discussing things such as citation, providing resources for the students, and even pulling literature of a similar nature (with the same theme or of the same genre) for students to explore and check out if they like this book. In a blog, the school librarian could blog about why the book is considered historical fiction and what parts of the story are based on truth.

References

Enderle, D. (2010). Crosswire. Honesdale, PA: Calkins Creek

Kirkus Reviews. (2010). [Review] Crosswire. Kirkus reviews, 78(19). Retrieved 05 December 2012 from: www.kirkusreviews.com

Jordet, S. (2011). Crosswire. Library media connection, 29(5). Brush, CO. Retrieved 05 December 2012 from www.librarymediaconnection.com