When seventeen-year-old Joshua Thane left Chicago for the Arizona Territory in 1850, he knew life on the Western frontier would not be easy.
But he scarcely expected to find himself in command of a band of six Apache children, ranging from three to thirteen years old, with fifty miles of Arizona desert to cross – and a party of murderous, Apache-hating white men in hot pursuit.
That's what happens, though, in this action-packed story of the Old West. As a matter of fact, Joshua isn't even really in command. The real leader is Cholay, the thirteen- year-old Apache boy who has become Joshua's best friend.
It is "Charlie," as Joshua calls him, who enlists Joshua's aid in rescuing the young Apaches from Papago Indian raiders... who enables the desperate little band to survive the rigors of the desert, from rattlesnakes to flash floods. and who manages to outwit their pursuers almost as far as safety.
Me, Cholay & Co. is based on a historical incident – the massacre of some 125 Apache women and children by whites and Papago Indian warriors, who carried off many of the smaller children to be sold as slaves in Mexico.
Young readers will be caught up in the excitement of this fictionalized account. And they will gain some valuable insights from the very believable friendship that develops between the two boys.
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