The Ambassador of Nowhere Texas by Kimberly Willis Holt

“Nowhere Texas” is better known as Antler, the small town that Zachary Beaver visited in an earlier novel that bears his name.

The Ambassador of Nowhere Texas by Kimberly Willis Holt. Henry Holt, 2021, 311 pages.

Reading Level: Middle Grades, ages 10-12

Recommended for: ages 10-15

Rylie Wilson has marinated in the big winds and wide-open spaces of the Texas panhandle all her life and never imagined living anywhere else than Antler. Loving parents and a long-term bestie (Twig) are all she needs. But change is afoot in the fall of 2001: Twig, dealing with a shakeup in her life, seems to be shaking off Rylie. The September 11 attack has brought repercussions all the way to West Texas. And there’s a new kid in town. Joe Toscani and his mom have come all the way from New York City to move into Miss Myrtie Mae’s house, which went up for sale after the old lady died. The city boy seems to have a hard shell and is more than a little contemptuous of small-town life. Improbable as it may seem, though, Joe and Rylie become friends due to a shared project: finding out what happened to Zachary Beaver.

If the name rings a bell, it’s because Kimberly Willis Holt’s first novel, When Zachary Beaver Came to Town, won a National Book Award in 1999 and became a movie in 2003. The protagonist of that novel was Rylie Wilson’s father. As a middle-grader back in 1970, Toby Wilson biked the street of Antler with his best bud Cal, mowed lawns for Miss Myrtie Mae and formed a strange friendship with a sideshow attraction billed as “The Fattest Boy in the World.” Most of the characters from Zachary Beaver appear in Nowhere Texas, or at least we find out what happened to them, but the fate of the title character awaits the end. Though well worth a read for its emotional depth and sympathetic characters, The Ambassador of Nowhere, Texas, will have even more resonance for readers of the earlier novel, who will enjoy rediscovering those characters now that they’re all grown up. Loss and change and reconciliation are the sturdy themes of both.

Consideration:

• A romantic vibe between seventh-graders Rylie and Joe leads to one chaste kiss.

Overall Rating: 4.25

• Worldview/moral value: 4
• Artistic/literary value: 4.5

Also at Redeemed Reader

• Review: Blooming at the Sunrise Motel, by Kimberly Willis Holt
• Review: The Luck of the Buttons, another middle-grade novel featuring small-town life.
• Reflection: How do middle-grade novels deal with death? Thoughts about Bridge to Terebithia.

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