Review of Zachary: The Seagoing Cowboy

Yes, I know I just announced days ago that I would be dedicating my blog to nonfiction reads to celebrate Nonfiction November. This is a fiction book but it is based on a historical event and I just couldn't resist sharing it with you. Thanks to Shirley and WOW Women on Writing who is organizing the tour.

More About Zachary: The Seagoing Cowboy

Zachary Whitlock knows sheep. He knows farming and knows what it’s like to have his best friend forced into an internment camp for Japanese Americans. What he does not know much about is goats and traveling by sea on cargo ships, yet he makes a decision to go with a group of volunteers to Japan to help deliver a herd of more than two hundred goats, many of which are pregnant, to survivors of the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Learn his story in Zachary: The Seagoing Cowboy.

More About Shirley Miller Kamada

Shirley Miller Kamada grew up on a farm in northeastern Colorado. She has been an educator in Oregon, Idaho, and Washington, a bookstore-espresso café owner in Centralia, Washington, and director of a learning center in Olympia, Washington. Her much-loved first novel, NO QUIET WATER, was a Kirkus recommended title and a finalist for several awards. When not writing, she enjoys casting a fly rod, particularly from the dock at her home on Moses Lake in Central Washington, which she shares with her husband and two spoiled pups.

You can follow the author at: 

Website: https://shirleymillerkamada.com/

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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ShirleyMillerKamada or https://www.facebook.com/shirley.miller.1042032

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Thoughts About Zachary: The Seagoing Cowboy

Zachary: The Seagoing Cowboy was a fascinating read about a part of history I never knew about, food aid to Japan after World War II as seen through the eyes of one teenage American boy. This is a great book for YA readers because, in addition to giving us information about the project, it also includes some excitement (hurricanes, runaway kids, bicycle accidents). Within the context of the story it raises several questions that I feel would be interesting in any family or classroom. How do we balance our faith with our desire to do good? What are our feelings about war and specifically, nuclear war? Big questions, but made more approachable by the personal viewpoint offered by this story, where the person grappling with the questions is just 17 years old.

The story is told from Zachary's viewpoint but bouncing between his time on his family farm and his time on a cargo ship on its way to Japan, effectively revealing why he believes what he does. I was pleasantly surprised by some poetic uses of language when describing everything from a tree to an old mill to a hurricane. They were beautiful passages that I wanted to read over several times.

In my opinion, this is a great book for a family to read together as it opens the door to so many discussions.

Want to Win?

You could enter to win a copy of Zachary: The Seagoing Cowboy

and learn more about Shirley and her writing on the WOW-Women on Writing Blog Tour on the Muffin. You only have until November 16 to enter to win HERE!

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