Thursday, August 14, 2025

Update! Jimmy Spoon and the Pony Express

 kindle & paperback

I'm happy to announce an updated Jimmy Spoon & the Pony ExpressOriginally published by Scholastic in 1994 this sequel to the best-selling The Legend of Jimmy Spoon includes an author interview, glossary and historical notes. New cover art by Cody Rutty.

"Exciting ... those who have not read Legend will certainly want to do so after finishing this one." -- School Library Journal

"Terrific." VOYA [Voice of Youth Advocates]

Jimmy knew from the moment he laid eyes on the ad, that he had to ride for the Pony Express:  "WANTED: Young, skinny, wiry fellows not over 18. Must be expert riders, willing to risk death daily, orphans preferred. Wages $24 a week ... "


And no one was more qualified than Jimmy.  He had lived with the Shoshoni for years and had learned their ways.  No white boy could ride like Jimmy Spoon.  But fifty miles a day isn't an easy ride -- even for him.  And the trails are dangerous.  Living conditions are primitive; there are outlaws, angry tribes, blistering heat, and below-zero winters.  And all along, Jimmy yearns to return to his Shoshoni family, especially to rekindle his friendship with the lovely Nahanee.


Readers asking for Part 3, will have fun seeing Jimmy and Nahanee and their special surprise in The Great Railroad Race: The Diary of Libby West; Utah Territory 1868

The Jimmy Spoon stories are based on the adventures of Elijah Nicholas Wilson, a Pony Express rider who lived with the Shoshone Indians as a boy in the 1850s. The town of Wilson, Wyoming at the base of Teton Pass is named after him.