The Ghosts of Luckless Gulch
by Anne Isaacs, illustrated by Dan Santat. 2008. New York: Atheneum Books for Young Children. (97814146902010).
Media: acrylic and ink on bristol paper, touched up in Photoshop
Author's Website: http://www.anneisaacs.com/content/
Illustrator's Website: http://www.dantat.com/
Awards and Honors: New York Public Library's 100 Best Books of 2008
Annotation: A tall tale set during the Gold Rush, The Ghosts of Luckless Gulch is the story of Estrella Rivera, a young girl with some extraordinary abilities.
Personal Reaction:
The Ghosts of Luckless Gulch, a traditional style tall tale told by contemporary author Anne Isaac, is the story of Estrella Rivera, a young girl with some extraordinary abilities. She can heal animals and runs so fast she burns the air behind her. Estrella befriends some uncommon animals (a kickle snifter, a sidehill wowser and a ruberrado puppy) who she adopts as pets. When they go missing, it's up to Estrella to find them and bring them home. It's as a result of her journey that California gets its soaring mountains, earthquakes and redwood forests. The Ghosts of Luckless Gulch is set in the California of the Gold Rush days and is an original take on traditional tall tales. I appreciated that Isaac protagonist, Estrella Rivera, is a fearless and independent Mexican American girl, but ultimately the book didn't capture my imagination. Tall tales, with their far-fetched narratives, usually exhibit clever, tongue-in-cheek humor, but The Ghosts of Luckless Gulch was dull and witless. Nonetheless, it references enough history and geography that I could see it being used in elementary schools to supplement California's state history curriculum. Isaac also makes generous use of metaphors and similes ("It's odder than a skunk selling perfume.", "The tracks vanished as suddenly as an icicle in a blacksmith's forge."), which would lend it to being used in language arts lessons.
Use of Simile:
"It's stranger than a square tomato!" (p. 9)
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