Captain Kidd had experience traveling uncharted lands as he read his newspapers in different towns to spread the news of the world, but traveling with a ten-year-old girl who couldn't speak English was quite a different task for him.

Johanna had been kidnapped by the Kiowa Indians after her family was killed in a raid, but Johanna was now released and needed to be returned to her aunt and uncle. She didn't know who they were, and they didn't know her.

NEWS OF THE WORLD flows beautifully as we follow Captain Kidd and Johanna on their 400-mile journey that Captain Kidd regretfully had accepted. He had to deal with no language communication except for a few words and sign language as well as Johanna's numerous attempts to escape.

NEWS OF THE WORLD was an enjoyable read because the writing was marvelous, the story line was interesting, and the characters were authentic and likable. ?Johanna grew on you. ??Mrs. Gannet was charming. Captain Kidd was a perfect gentleman, a wonderful father, and an all-around good guy.?

I enjoyed the historical aspect of how there were folks who went from town to town reading the news. ?I loved the descriptions of the undeveloped country and am happy I didn't live back then. It was difficult to imagine there were no paved roads.? We readers even get to be in the middle of a gun fight.

NEWS OF THE WORLD is filled with beautiful, descriptive writing that pulls you in I truly enjoyed NEWS OF THE WORLD mainly because of the characters and definitely the warmth and kindness of Captain Kidd.

If you need a quick, enjoyable, heartwarming read, NEWS OF THE WORLD fits the bill along with a history lesson. 4/5

This book was giv?en to me free of charge and without compensation from the publisher in return for an honest review.?

Great read. Story was unique and entertaining. Characters were memorable.

Returning a young girl to her white family after 4 years with the Kiowa Indians, Capt, Kidd discovers life is not as set as he'd thought it was. This is a small, magical book with great depth of feeling. We watch the old timer slowly blossom back to life as he matches wits and wills with his young charge. I found this book both inspiring and amusing. There is a realness to the relations of the characters and it steady, even pace is both compelling and restful.

Good read. I liked the characters and the bond that grew between Johanna and Capt Kidd.

Charming and engrossing. Captain Kidd is a great character, we fell in love with him.

A exciting and tender book

Easy to read novel about a retired soldier after the Civil war who makes a living reading the news to small towns in Texas for 10 cents per person. He tackles the job of returning an orphaned kidnapped girl to her relatives. She wants to stay with the Indians and doesn't want to go back to white man's ways. Very good relationship between the two main characters. Brings up the situation of real life captured white people who, upon being rescued, were never able to assimilate into white society, even after being held for less than a year.

An interesting story of post Civil War Texas, an unique bond between a young girl and a traveling News reader as they make their way through the untamed West. Endearing characters, good discussion, enjoyable book for our first read!

Excellent and informative story of the rugged west, particularly in Texas regarding the release of captives once held by American Indians. You will laugh and cry and root for a happy ending.

Beautifully written story that tells the tale of a child once kidnapped by Indians and the man who became her family. The prose was expertly crafted and made this story visible.

My husband and I listened to Paulette Jiles’s News of the World as an audiobook. Set in the late 19th century, the novel develops the relationship between a 10-year girl rescued from the Kiowa Indians and the retired 71-year old Captain who agrees to escort her across Texas to reunite her with her aunt and uncle. Captain Jefferson Kyle Kidd is a widower, father, and veteran of two wars who now makes his living traveling across Texas holding news-reading events for small towns. The Indians kidnapped Johanna after their raid killed her parents. She spent many years being raised by the Kiowa until they sold her back to the American military. Johanna is no longer wanted by the Indians but does not recall her native German-American life, language, or the “proper, civilized” behavior for females.

This is a historical western filled with numerous facts and events from the time period, both local and global ones, as well as vignettes of life in the still rather untamed Texas. It is also an intergenerational novel that focuses on themes of family, trust, moral obligations, and friendship. The Captain and Johanna form a unique and special bond. It is a real pleasure to witness the growth of their companionship and love. The Captain is an extremely wise older gentleman who has a penchant for straight talking and telling it like it is. I love that his character is so matter-of-fact about everything, down to earth, and holds the highest level of integrity. Johanna is a real spitfire. She is courageous in the face of great fear and uncertainty, as well as a very practical traveling companion. She is a perfect match for the Captain. Their free-spirited and wandering natures truly connect them. I loved the characters of both the Captain and Johanna.

Jiles has a talent for description and scene setting. The facts and research included in the story are not superfluous; they enhance the story and enrich the scenes. She makes the reader feel truly present and one can smell the smells, feel the dust and heat, and experience the fears, frustrations, and triumphs. The novel reads at a pace that matches traveling four hundred miles across Texas in a horse-drawn wagon. While that is slow, it is fitting and appropriate for the novel. There are also a number of adventures and quite a bit of dry humor along the way. The writing is lush and lyrical which draws the reader into the journey and makes you want to stay until the end. Both my husband and I enjoyed this book.

NEWS OF THE WORLD is a nice little book, nothing earthshaking but still a good book and one you'll want to read.

In post-Civil War time, Captain Jefferson Kidd travels to small towns in Texas where he is a reader, that is, he reads the news of the world to gatherings of people there. At one of his stops, he is given a 10-year-old girl to deliver to her aunt and uncle. The little girl, Johanna, had been stolen by the Indians when she was 4 years old. Now she is Indian, herself, having lost all traces of European language and manners. We travel across Texas along with the captain and Johanna and watch as they grow to love one another, the "old man" and his "little warrior."

You'll probably love this book. Most people do.

Captain Jefferson Kidd travels around from small town to small town, like Cyrano de Bergerac, reading from newspapers and sharing the news of the world with those who pay a dime for the privilege of listening to him read it. Newspapers were scarce then and not everyone could read. For some it was a social event, and for some it was a time to raise a ruckus. Once, the captain had his own printing press, but the wars during his lifetime had taken their toll. He had lived seven decades, and he missed both his deceased wife and his former newsman’s life. His two daughters lived in Georgia, where the Civil War had also altered their lifestyles. They did not have the money to rejoin him in his home town in Texas, but he hoped they would some day soon.
During his travels, he arrived in a town and noticed the same man he had seen at his last couple of readings. He wondered why he had been following him. The man, soon revealed his reason. Britt Johnson*, asked the captain to take a child back to her German relatives. He offered him the $50 gold coin he was given for the task, because he said the child was belligerent and white. He did not think, as a black man, that he could guarantee her safety or his own. The child had been kidnapped at the age of six. She witnessed the death of both her parents and her younger sister who were murdered by the Kiowa. Now, after four years, she had forgotten her past and fully identified with the Indian tribe more than with her own true biological background. The captain agreed to take Johanna home to an aunt and uncle because, although he was old and the journey would be hard, he felt it was the right thing to do. How he managed to get Johanna to her relatives and what he learned about them, was the crux of the novel.
As they traveled together, they both learned more about life from each other. Just as the captain tried to help Johanna adjust to the more civilized world, this precocious child showed him how comfortable it was to live in the more savage world of her last four years. She was a survivor and she became a great help to him. She was resourceful, intuitive, precocious and far more mature than her years.
Soon, although the child and the captain were burdened with their memories, they learned how to comfort each other and fulfill each other’s need for affection and someone to trust. The story of their travels and relationship was both interesting and exciting to read as the lawlessness and danger of the territories began to surface on each page. The author’s description of the time and place made the reader feel right in the thick of it. How they survived and moved off into the future was simply a good story. However, the writing style was unusual because no quotations were used to delineate speech from pure narrative which sometimes led to confusion. Also, it was difficult to tell which parts of the story were based on real history and which were based on the author’s imagination.
*Britt Johnson is the stuff of legends. A hero, Johnson was the slave of Moses Johnson who freed him and gave him money enabling him to rescue his own family from the Indians.

One of the best books I’ve read. Eloquent writing that gave you a front seat to the adventure. Excellent character development and such vivid description all packed in a 200 page book.

Great

This book was one of the favorites of all the members.

I just finished this March selection for our book club. I enjoyed it very much. What a great developing relationship between the two main characters. I am interested in reading more about people captured by Native Americans in the old west.

The relationship between Captain Kidd and Johanna was very moving and mutually beneficial. Captain Kidd was an honorable man determined to keep his pledge to return Johanna to her relatives while Johanna found a person she could trust. Their travels together and the final resolution reinforced a belief that good prevails.

It was slow and didn’t have much depth. It’s an easy ready, mildly entertaining but I didn’t walk away with much.