A Mule Will Do
Jo Barkley invades Rock School.
As the story opens in A Mule Will Do the year is 1936 and Jo Barkley and her family have moved from Utah to a farming community in southern Idaho. Jo has had to leave behind her pony, her dog Tippy and her beloved grandpa. On her first day at school, Jo meets Kate who immediately antagonizes her. Jo's father has purchased a team of work mules. Jo sets out to gentle the mule Pete so she can join the other boys and girls on their horseback outings, but Pete has been abused by a former owner and bucks her off the first time she tries to ride him. When Jo's father loses his job, the family struggles to get through the winter. Things go from bad to worse when a telegram comes from Utah saying Grandpa has died and Dad has to go help Grandma. While he's gone, Jo and Clyde go to the desert for a load of sagebrush. Jo has a runaway with the mules and Clyde breaks his leg. With a winter storm coming, Jo has to ride Pete for help. Driving the mules home in a blizzard, Jo has a life-changing experience, but the supreme test comes later when a rattlesnake spooks Kate's horse. Jo has to decide whether to save her own neck or rescue Kate.
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See A Mule Will Do at Barnes
and Noble. Cover art by Kim Andrews. |
Read the first Chapter of A Mule Will Do!
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A Mule Will Do received honorable mention in the 11th Annual Writer's Digest Self-Published Book Awards. |
Review
"It is common these days to wonder 'what ever did children do before television, computers and video games?' In this wonderful and interesting book, A Mule Will Do, author Neva Andrews answers that question. Throughout A Mule Will Do, Andrews writes with great knowledge and care about Jo's relationships with animals. Her gentling techniques used with the mule Pete could be a training manual on their own. Adolescent girls everywhere who love horses will love to read about Jo Barkley and her adventures in the rural West of the 1930's." Myke Gelhaus, freelance writer and former editor of South Weld Sun.
What others have said
"This book [A Mule Will Do] is rich in historic detail. The author's love of nature and animals is readily apparent. Her understanding of a young girl's coming to terms with adult problems makes this a thoroughly engrossing and thought-provoking book." Ruth Pelton-Roby, South Weld Sun.