Bloody Chester

Petty, JT.  (2012).  Bloody Chester. New York, NY:  Roaring Book Press.  Chester Kates is lives in an old western town full of evil people.  He is constantly being beat up and has been given the nickname of “Lady Kate.”  Somehow, Chester always manages to get up.  After one occasion, he is left unconscious and wakes up in jail.  There he is cleaned up and given new clothes.  Mr. Croghan needs to run his railroad tracks through the town of Whale, but since there are many ghost stories surrounding it and a mysterious disease, his workers will not work near the town.  He hires Chester to burn it to the ground.  When Chester gets there, he finds that there are three people living there and do not want to leave, but he is determined to complete his job.  He also finds out that the ghost stories and plague were started by a Whitley Barber to keep the Indians and railroad out.  As he is determined to burn the City, he tells its inhabitants to pack up and leave.  As they are leaving, they are attacked by Sioux Indians and Chester realizes that Barber had tortured many of them.  Chester makes the decision to kill Barber and the Indians leave.  I feel that this book told a great story with a twist at the end, but I think it should only be read by the older high school students due to its content and language.  Even though Chester’s character is not free of flaws and a bad history, we find that he is still a good person.  He understands that a wrong has been committed against the Indians and sets to make it right by getting rid of Barber.