Ox Cart Angel

By J. A. Arnold

Winner of the Midwest Book Award for Best Young Adult Novel, 2011!

'If I had known how much my life was about to change, I would have spent that last day in Pembina differently. I would have said goodbye to my friends and visited the places that reminded me of Mama, especially the elm tree where she was buried. I would have sat at her grave telling her how much I missed her, and that I’d come back someday to visit.

But since I didn’t know any of that, I spent most of that day with Freda Two-Feathers, who was a half-breed like me.

Half-breed.

Papa hated that word.

“You are Métis,” he’d say. “You are not half of anything, Claire.”'

While the Civil War rages far away, Claire and her father set out on a journey from the Dakota Territory, hoping to catch up to the large caravan of Métis fur traders that left the day before. Their destination? The bustling city of St. Paul, where Papa wishes to open a photography studio. But with only Bone Bag, their one-horned ox, to pull their squeaky cart, they soon realize they may have to make their treacherous journey alone. Braving bad weather, packs of wolves, dangerous river crossings, starvation and exhaustion, can Claire and her father survive the deeply rutted ox cart trails?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joel Arnold
• Release date: Aug 5, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465929914

Book preview

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Reviews for Ox Cart Angel

[mary6endersbe · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ox Cart Angel will transport you back to a time that your children may never knew even existed. It is so hard to realize that there were days before highways, before cars, before grocery stores with everything we could ever need were on every corner. This book reminds us that it really was not that long ago in our timeline that these conveniences were not available to us.The story starts out with a girl, Claire. Claire is Métis, her mother being Indian and her father French Canadian. After the death of her mother, Claire finds out her father wants to pick up and move from the little town of Pembina to the big city of St. Paul. She does not want to leave the only home town she has grown up in and the friends she loves, but she has no choice. Her father has decided to sell what they can and move his photography business to St. Paul. All they can afford is an old, half blind ox the town children call Bone Bag and a rickety old cart. Having missed leaving with the big wagon train of Métis, but hoping on catching up with them, Claire and her father set out on their difficult journey.Along the way, Claire refuses to leave her mother's wedding gown, so she wears the dress almost the entire trip, even though it is uncomfortable, as Claire feels the dress is one of her last connections to her mother. As this little crew runs into people, they start to comment on how she appears to be an "angel." Their trip with the old ox and cart is long, monotonous and oftentimes dangerous. This story is about all of the people they run across, the good and the bad, the adverse situations they have to deal with and the unknown future that awaits them. This is also a story of a relationship between a daughter and a father and how hard times make young people take on grown up responsibilities and how these responsibilities turn children into adults.It took me a while to really get into the story of Ox Cart Angel, but when I did, it was so filled with interesting characters that the father/daughter team met along the way, it was hard to put down. Arnold's writing was so descriptive it was easy for me to picture all of these people in my head. Each new situation the little ox cart team ran into was like another tiny story within the story and it was fun to see what these little side stories were about. I found the book very creative and original, not like any other book I have read set in that era. I think once a reader gets to know the characters and gets into the story, the rest of the book is so entertaining it just flies by. I was excited to see a sequel is in the works for this story as there is so much more that can be written here. I can't wait for the next installment! I have to agree with the previous reviewer, this book NEEDS to find its way into a classroom, boys and girls both would like this book and teachers would find it a perfect read

[lostinalibrary · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

In the mid-1800s, Claire, a young Metis girl and her father, a photographer, set out on a journey to Minneapolis. Claire hates to go and, when her father insists she can take only one thing, she puts on her deceased mother's wedding dress to try to hide it from her father. In many ways, this dress will stand as a metaphor for the journey. Along the way, they encounter many hardships and discrimination. They also encounter kindness, the sacrifice of the settlers and the natives who still occupy the territory, and Claire even has her first kiss. Ox cart Angel is aimed at middle graders and I would have to say, this is YA historical fiction at its finest. I especially liked Claire's father - his love of his daughter never falters even when she is being difficult and, when she is called half-breed and other names (her mother was Ojibway), he never fails to defend and protect her. There are some scenes that may be too graphic or emotionally upsetting for the very young reader but, overall, this is a beautiful novel, full of love and humour - a book that educates while entertaining, a rare accomplishment in the YA genre.

[mldavis2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Although I gave this 4-stars, it's perhaps better than that as a Young Adult novel. The short novel reads as a diary of a young girl who sets out with her father on a nearly endless journey into Minnesota with an ox cart and a flatulent ox. Enroute she deals with fear, discrimination, love and hardship. The story is straightforward and easy reading toward the end while keeping the reader under tension. This is a great read for young adults.This novel was received in eBook format from Smashwords as a Member Giveaway in exchange for an honest review.

[adcoletx · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A depiction of sacrifices made by families during the Civil War era to do what was best for their families. Claire is uprooted by her father against her wishes and she is resentful toward him for the journey. A large part of this book is depicting the journey in the middle of nowhere with no interactions with others as it must have been for journeys of this magnitude. This type of story would be a great way to teach students about the sacrifices made in this time period but I would not choose this book simply because of the large spans of text with little information. While these spans are critical for expressing the hardships of the travelers it would be ineffective at pulling the interest of the students.

[glenajo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ox Cart Angel, by J. Arnold, is the story of Claire, a young Métis girl, in the Dakota Territory during the Civil War. After the local Métis men leave on their yearly journey to sell their furs, Claire’s father decides to begin the risky journey with a ‘retired’ ox and Claire, despite his lack of knowledge and adequate supplies since the majority of space is full of his photography equipment. The pair endures multiple hardships, dangers, and boredom, aggravated by relationship difficulties. This story leaves the reader with images of the difficulties that people endured living in the late 1800s including physical and mental hardship, racism, prejudice, and the constant struggle to survive. Claire struggles to accept her father’s decision to leave the village of her mother, knowing that her father does not have the skills to make such a trip. The book paints a vivid picture, leaving the reader exhausted as they meet the struggles along with Claire. The book drags at the reader’s emotions as the reader follows Claire through her struggles, presenting life in a tremendously difficult time.I would recommend this book for teens for the historical aspect and for the conflicts of parent/child, racism, and survival. I received this book through the Library Thing Giveaway Program.

[igjoe · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ox Cart Angel is novel of a young girl, Claire's, journey overland and through her life. This novel is well written and would make a great book for young adults and adults alike. This also seems like the first book in a series. It was interesting and held my attention completely. The emotions portrayed by the author really drew me in and it was very easy to get involved in the Claire's life. Great, easy read.

[mirrani_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ox Cart Angel is a story of loss and discovery set in the days of wagon caravans and boys going off to fight in the civil war. Claire is a Metis girl (someone of both white and American Indian blood) lost in the changes of an adult's world. One moment she is playing with her friend, the next she is leaving her home forever. Her journey is filled with danger and tragedy, but it is equally filled with discovery and the joys of overcoming the sorrows of the past.A perfect book to teach us that discovering who you are as a person does not happen quickly or in the way you expect it to, this story gradually helps the reader let go of what we physically cling to as a way of remembering the past and then leads them into grasping for the more precious memories in our hearts and minds. In this way, through Claire's journey the reader travels through pain and into hope.The story is well written, told in the first person, from the prospective of a young girl whose world has turned upside down in what seems to be too many ways to count. The quality of writing puts the reader right into the events as they unfold along the long road and helps you to see through Claire's eyes and feel with her heart. In fact, the only warning I feel I must give anyone who picks up this book is that the story is so well told and the emotions are so well expressed within the words of each page that you will easily experience Claire's feelings as your own.Note: Though this book was a free gift from the author, the content of my review was in no way influenced by the gifting. The book speaks for itself and my review would have been worded just this way even if I'd gone out and bought it. I also give bonus points for Text To Speech enabling on Kindle format.... but that also wasn't a factor in the above review.