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The Water Seeker

3.73 of 5 stars 3.73 · rating details · 666 ratings · 210 reviews

“When I was a boy, my pa dowsed to earn extra money when we had a lean year. And when he put the branch in my hands for the first time, I felt a burning inside me because I had the gift, too. Just be thankful I didn’t hand that gift down to you.”

Amos figured it was probably best not to tell his father that it was too late.

What would you do if you knew you had a special gif...more

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Published May 25th 2010 by Listening Library (Audio) (first published May 11th 2010)

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One Crazy Summer by Rita Williams-Garcia

Newbery 2011

37th out of 139 books — 411 voters

Mock Newbery 2010/2011

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Jul 18, 2012 Mariah rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: ya-lit

Although the setting is very different from "When Zachary Beaver Came to Town", Holt once again explores the process one boy goes through to become a man. When his real mother dies in child birth, Amos is passed from woman to woman and each brings something important to his development. The story really takes off when Amos is 14 and begins traveling with his family on the Oregon trail. The crises he faces on the treacherous journey forces him to grow up and see people for what they really are.

W...more

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Feb 24, 2013 Ivy rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Historical fiction fans, Young Adult

Shelves: young-adult

Here is a little diamond in the rough. Kimberly Willis Holt writes a coming-of-age story about young Amos Kincaid, born to an artist mother and a wandering father in early 19th century America.

The story is mostly about Amos and his family, the lives they lead and their experiences as a pioneering family. From the beginning, TWS sucks you right in. Holt spins her web masterfully, introducing you to her numerous characters and making them so real that you wish you had lived in their time. You come...more

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Jul 03, 2012 Judy Desetti rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction, young-adult, gr-5-8

YALSA Best Books for YA 2011
KS Heartland Award Nomination List- 2011

I fell into the book and loved it. Great story. I am sure it won't take me long to read.

This story spans the time period from 1833 in Missouri to 1859 in Oregon. You get to know various characters throughout the novel but primarily follow the life of Amos whose mother dies in childbirth and then must live with various families since his dad is a trapper and travels most of the year. The bulk of the novel illuminates the hardshi...more

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Apr 14, 2011 Jill rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult

I'm not sure if I liked this book or not. I certainly enjoyed the plot (I'm a sucker for a storyline that uses the Oregon Trail), the characters, and the flow. Even the little magical bits. But it seemed to be missing something... bigger. I suppose the moral (for lack of a better term) was about growing up and becoming yourself, but this wasn't expressed strongly. I wanted a reason to read this, an ultimate "ah ha!" which I guess I didn't get.

I expected there to be more dowsing in this book, but...more

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Mar 02, 2011 Shayna Greenblatt rated it 5 of 5 stars

The Water Seeker Shayna Greenblatt
Kimberly Willis Holt
ISBN 978-0-8050-8020-9

When God created water, he made the Kincaids, for water flowed through their veins like blood. So much so, they knew how to draw it deep from the earth. That was their gift. That was their curse. Father to son. Father to son. Father to son.

So begins the poignant story of Amos Kincaid, son of a dowser. When Jake Kincaid comes home, astonished to discover that his wife has passed away, leaving nothing but their newborn s...more The Water Seeker Shayna Greenblatt
Kimberly Willis Holt
ISBN 978-0-8050-8020-9

When God created water, he made the Kincaids, for water flowed through their veins like blood. So much so, they knew how to draw it deep from the earth. That was their gift. That was their curse. Father to son. Father to son. Father to son.

So begins the poignant story of Amos Kincaid, son of a dowser. When Jake Kincaid comes home, astonished to discover that his wife has passed away, leaving nothing but their newborn son, he takes him to his sister-in-law, Rebecca. There Amos lives and grows, seeing his father only once a year when he comes to tell them of his adventures in the great wide world of trapping—a world that Amos has only glimpsed. His father despises his gift, so when Amos discovers that he too can find water underground, he is determined to keep it a secret. But the world is full of twists and turns, and soon Amos finds himself embarking on an unforgettable journey full of danger, hope, deception, tragedy and love, as he sets off on a voyage down the Oregon Trail.
The Water Seeker is one of my favorite books of all time. It is the story of a boy's life, yet its simplicity makes it all the more intriguing. This is a book that you could read over the course of a month, or, like me, all in one night. It is a story that is hard to put down and impossible to forget. The characters seemed so real that I felt I could almost reach into the book and grab them.
Any writer could write a gripping story with plot-driven action and impossible twists, but it takes a truly remarkable author to write a book like The Water Seeker. Kimberly Willis Holt is no exception, and I guarantee that she will hold you hostage until the very last word. The beginning is a bit slow, but as I worked through the book, I found it took on a whole new meaning, almost compelling me to go back and read it again. I'd recommend this book to fans of historical fiction, or just about anyone who needs a little time to live in someone else's world for a while. The Water Seeker is a book that you will never forget, and as the characters grow, I guarantee that you will too. “A good story traveled like water, constantly flowing, making rivers form one person to the next, returning and filling them up all over again.”
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Jan 18, 2011 Jan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: teenbooks, historical-fiction

Traces the hard life, filled with losses, adversity, and adventure, of Amos, son of a trapper and dowser, from 1833 when his mother dies giving birth to him until 1859, when he himself has grown up and has a son of his own

A richly detailed historical novel about the pioneers taking the Oregon Trail. The pace is slow, but that is obviously the intent of the author who takes her time in developing the story and the characters. Some of the characters did not strike me as completely authentic—someti...more

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Dec 17, 2010 Rebekah added it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 13, 2010 Lisa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: mock-newbery-2010

A slow and rambling story about a young boy who lives in the early to mid 1800's. Amos' mother dies in childbirth and his father, a trapper, leaves Amos with his brother and sister-in-law to raise until Rebecca dies of Smallpox. His father, Jake, then comes to take him home where he lives with his step-mother, an Shoshone Indian, his aunt Daisy, her husband Homer, and his young cousin Finn until the whole family sets out from Independence, MO for the great West. Jake is a scout on the trail and...more

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Aug 24, 2010 Hilary rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: grades-7-8, grades-5-6, historical-fiction

Amos Kincaid was brought into the world with a tragedy. The death of his own mother. Not knowing where else to turn, Amos' father, Jake, drops off the baby at his brother's mission in Missouri, vowing to come back each year and visit. Gil reluctantly takes on the role of raising Amos, but Rebecca, his wife, embraces it with her whole heart, becoming everything a mother can be to Amos. Each year with Jake's return, Amos fears that he'll be taken away from his home to go live with this rough and g...more

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Aug 05, 2010 J.Elle rated it 2 of 5 stars

July Book #12: I'm just going to take this opportunity before I review a book about a "water seeker" to say that it totally sucks when your hot water heater goes out and you discover that the threads on your thermal coupler go left and they only make them with threads that go right, save for a brief window of time when Whirlpool tried (and failed dismally, finishing with a LAWSUIT against them) to corner the market on left threads. So, a quick jaunt to the local Lowe's or Home Depot is moot. Whi...more

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Aug 01, 2010 Nicola rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, own

Reason for Reading: I love frontier life western historical fiction and the dowsing aspect caught my eye.

It seems strange to call a book with just over 300 pages an epic story but that really is the best way to describe "The Water Seeker". It is the story of a family starting with the meeting of the mother and father and ending with their child married, with his own youngster. The main character is a boy who we meet at birth and he grows to manhood, but for the most part of the book he is a youn...more Reason for Reading: I love frontier life western historical fiction and the dowsing aspect caught my eye.

It seems strange to call a book with just over 300 pages an epic story but that really is the best way to describe "The Water Seeker". It is the story of a family starting with the meeting of the mother and father and ending with their child married, with his own youngster. The main character is a boy who we meet at birth and he grows to manhood, but for the most part of the book he is a young teen and in a way this is his coming of age story. But even though the boy may be considered the protagonist, his father shares that position equally, plus the story is just as much about the adults who surround the boy and their lives that I often forgot I was reading a YA book. Which makes me recommend the book as much to adults as to teens.

Amos Kincaid's father, Jake, is a dowser but he hates the "gift" that was passed down to him from his father and only does it when times are hard. Otherwise he is a trapper and loves the life. Amos' mother died at his birth and he was sent to be raised by his Uncle and Aunt, with his father coming to visit each year for a few months when the trapping season is over. Eventually, the boy grows and the father comes back, with a wife, and they set off with a group going along the Oregon Trail. The story deals with very real life and death. Death much more so and Amos experiences guilt, jealousy, anger, joy, happiness and ultimately love before the journey west is complete.

I loved this book, one of the best I've read this month. All the characters are so real. Some are filled with the pioneer spirit and others are bitter over the hardships dealt them in this life. We see how tragedy can break a man to nothing but a shell of his former self and we see how the same tragedy can make another pick herself up and continue on because of her love for life. The book is filled with tragedies, heartbreak, illness and despair. Pioneer life was tough no matter how much spirit you had. But we follow a family made up of unique individuals who rise above each hardship creating a magnificent epic novel. I'd love to see "The Water Seeker" up for some awards this year; it's truly worthy. A great historical. (less)

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Jul 15, 2010 Suebee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. This book was shelved in my local library as "Juvenile Fiction," but it is NOT, in my opinion, for kids. Nope nope nope nope nope. But on the other hand, I can see the author's dilemma in trying to market this as an adult book. I can hear the publishers saying, "Nope nope nope nope nope."

I say it's not for kids not because it's terribly inappropriate - although there is a scene where a young wife contracts smallpox and her husband must shoot her to put her out of her misery. I say that it's not...more This book was shelved in my local library as "Juvenile Fiction," but it is NOT, in my opinion, for kids. Nope nope nope nope nope. But on the other hand, I can see the author's dilemma in trying to market this as an adult book. I can hear the publishers saying, "Nope nope nope nope nope."

I say it's not for kids not because it's terribly inappropriate - although there is a scene where a young wife contracts smallpox and her husband must shoot her to put her out of her misery. I say that it's not for kids, or at the very least should be categorized as YA fiction, because of the love stories, the adult entanglements, and adult sorrows detailed in the book.

I was truly absorbed in the story after reading the first bit of the book. A young man named Jake Kincaid, a dowser and trapper who makes his home in the Missouri territory in the 1830s, 'hadn't been with a woman in a long time' and makes a quick decision to marry a neighboring woman, a young woman named Delilah with fiery red hair and an abusive father. While Jake is away trapping, Delilah dies while giving birth to the protagonist of our story - a boy named Amos. Amos later discovers he inherited his father's dowsing gift. Delilah's spirit appears to characters throughout the book - a young woman named Gwendolyn, living in London, later to ride the wagon train on the Oregon Trail, where she will meet Amos, her future husband. A young barren wife named Rebecca sees Delilah's spirit around the boy, as well as the birds that follow him wherever he goes (this is never explained, but it presumably has to do with Rebecca's spirit and his dowsing gift). Rebecca is married to Gil, Jake's younger brother and a preacher. Rebecca would love to raise Amos as her own, but Jake won't allow it, although he leaves Amos for months out of every year to go trapping.

Eventually Amos grows and his father Jake returns with a new wife, an Indian woman named Blue Owl, who is treated with disdain by many characters. Blue Owl is portrayed as wise, though not pretty, and a hard worker who does not speak much but knows much about traditional medicine and cooking from the wild. Amos grows to accept her, though at first he hates her for being an Indian, since he was told that "Indians killed" Rebecca when he was five years old. (Really REbecca contracted smallpox from tending to sick Indian families, then had to be killed by her husband Gil.)

The last half of the book is a bit rambling. This was a LOOONNNG read, and while you might be tempted to say, "Ok, this could be for kids who like "Little HOUse on the Prairie," it's just not a good fit for kids. Amos is 13, his aunt Daisy, Daisy's husband Homer, and Daisy's son Finnegan join Jake leading a wagon train to the Oregon Territory, 2000 miles from INdependence, Missouri. Amos pines after a beautiful girl named Jubilee, while all the time a scarred face girl named Gwendolyn Winthrop pines after him. Amos cannot have Jubilee-- and he learns to love Gwendolyn, as her scars fade.

One moment that reinforced for me that it's not for kids is the scene where he's learning to love Gwendolyn and he says "He longed to just kiss her lips, hold her." or something like that. NOT FOR KIDS. This is adult stuff, adult emotions. (less)

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Jul 14, 2010 Wendy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010-award-possibilities

Utterly absorbing. Utterly disturbing. (after reading first third of the book)

Update: well, sadly, I thought this turned pedantic. It's an Oregon Trail book, and a pretty good one, but I thought at first that I was reading something exciting and unique.

The book makes reference to Indians digging up the bodies of pioneers to get their shoes. It's my understanding, though I could certainly be wrong, that that was just a rumor among the pioneers rather than actual practice. It seems unlikely to me...more

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Jul 07, 2010 Margo Tanenbaum rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, historical-fiction, pioneers

Award-winning children's author Kimberly Willis Holt offers a lyrical coming-of-age story set against the harsh reality of pioneer times and the Oregon trail in her newest novel. The central character is Amos, born in 1834, the son of a dowser, or water-seeker. His father, Jake, has the mystical gift of finding water, a gift handed down from son to son in his family. His mother, Delilah, died while giving birth to Amos but appears repeatedly in the novel as a ghost visible to those women who car...more Award-winning children's author Kimberly Willis Holt offers a lyrical coming-of-age story set against the harsh reality of pioneer times and the Oregon trail in her newest novel. The central character is Amos, born in 1834, the son of a dowser, or water-seeker. His father, Jake, has the mystical gift of finding water, a gift handed down from son to son in his family. His mother, Delilah, died while giving birth to Amos but appears repeatedly in the novel as a ghost visible to those women who care for her son. Because his father is away most of the year trapping and dowsing, Amos is raised by his childless aunt and uncle at an Indian mission. Amos is an unusual child who has inherited both his mother's gift for drawing and his father's gift for dowsing.

Life on the frontier was not easy, with a smallpox epidemic killing off not only a slew of Indians but also Amos' aunt, the only mother he has known. His care is given over to neighbors, until his father comes back to town with a new wife, Blue Owl, a Shoshone Indian. Amos, who wants to stay where he is, joins his father and Blue Owl in their itinerant lifestyle, until, a few years later, his father decides to join a wagon train to the Oregon territory as a scout.

The second half of the book tells the story of the journey on the Oregon trail; almost fourteen by this time in the story, Amos' journey takes him from a boy to a man. From the trail's jumping off point in Independence, Missouri, Amos' father recruits a diverse group of people for their wagon train, characters who will populate the rest of the book. Among them are a British family with a young girl, Gwendolyn, whose face has been disfigured by her father's abusive behavior. Also joining the group is a beautiful young girl Jubilee, her deaf brother, and her parents. Amos is enchanted by Jubilee, but Blue Owl knows that she is not meant for him.

Holt brings us into the preparations for this almost unimaginable journey--the purchase of supplies, the outfitting of wagons with oxen or mules, the decisions on which route to take, even the preparations of coffins of cloth, in case the worst happens. We see the travelers' distrust of Blue Owl; many had never seen Indians up close.

The action in the book steps up as the wagon train leaves for Oregon; terrible accidents, sickness, death, buffalo hunts, and young love are among the experiences that turn young Amos from a boy to a man. At the conclusion of the book, Holt takes us to 1859, when we see Amos, now with his own family, carrying on the family tradition of dowsing, "as his father had done, as his father had done before him...the gift never failed Amos."

This is a beautifully written, poetic tale that I would categorize as literary fiction for young readers. The book starts out with a very quiet, slow pace, and I can easily imagine many children abandoning the book after the first 25 pages or so unless they are required to read it for class. The story certainly would fit well into curriculum units on Western expansion, the Oregon Trail, and other pioneer themes, but the book does not have the action-packed pace that many children are accustomed to in other books. I do not see this book as having broad child appeal, but I can imagine that it might fare well in the awards season, since its more leisurely style may appeal to many adult readers of children's books.(less)

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Jul 16, 2012 Seabreeze rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

Sorry the format was paperback and I do not want to change the review now.
This book gives an inside-out story of traveling the Oregon TRail, complete with children falling to death from wagons, adults swept away in rivers, extreme heat and rivalry between families as to the best way to advance on their journey. What makes this book unique is that the main character,an early teen, is the son of a crusty old miner, who is a dowser and that the boy himself has the gift and must work out his destin...more

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Jan 18, 2011 Tricia rated it 3 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 05, 2011 Lisa Delaine Youngblood rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-for-tayshas

Beautifully written, this novel chronicles the life of Amos, the son of a dowser or water seeker. Though his father, Jake, sees water seeking as a curse, he and his family often need it to earn a living. Born to a mother who died at childbirth and a father who travels throughout the winter, Amos is raised by his Aunt Rebekah and his Uncle Seth, a pastor in a small community reaching out to area American Indian tribes. As his mother predicted, Amos's life is hard. After the death of Rebekah, Amos...more

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Aug 03, 2010 Bethany Miller rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ms-miller-s-book-list

3.5 stars

Amos never knew his mother; she died while giving birth to him. Amos’s father Jake Kincaid is a trapper, who is constantly on the move. He is also a reluctant dowser, a man who can sense underground sources of water. This is a valued skill on the expanding American frontier where many settlers must dig a well for their water supply; however, Jake regards his ability as a curse rather than a gift. Because of Jake’s need to travel, Amos spends most of his childhood with Jake’s brother Gil...more 3.5 stars

Amos never knew his mother; she died while giving birth to him. Amos’s father Jake Kincaid is a trapper, who is constantly on the move. He is also a reluctant dowser, a man who can sense underground sources of water. This is a valued skill on the expanding American frontier where many settlers must dig a well for their water supply; however, Jake regards his ability as a curse rather than a gift. Because of Jake’s need to travel, Amos spends most of his childhood with Jake’s brother Gil and his wife Rebecca. Amos loves Rebecca like a mother and is devastated when she dies. Gil is also devastated at the loss of his wife and becomes a shell of his former self. When Jake arrives for his yearly visit, he doesn’t come alone. He has married a Shoshone Indian named Blue Owl, and this time when he leaves he takes Amos with him. Jake decides to take a job scouting for a wagon train that’s headed west on the Oregon Trail, and he takes Amos and Blue Owl with him. Along the way Amos must overcome many hardships from the physically demanding life on the trail to dealing with unrequited first love and the loss of a loved one. By the time they come to the end of the trail, Amos has grown from a boy into a man.

Holt’s depiction of life on the American frontier and on the Oregon Trail is both familiar and unique. The Water Seeker brings to mind Little House on the Prairie and other books set in this time period, but Holt’s style, incorporating the harsh realities of frontier life with elements of magical realism, is completely her own. Holt skillfully depicts the complex relationship between Native Americans and the pioneers, who are suspicious of the “Injuns” and dependent upon them at the same time. For example, most of the women on the wagon train treat Blue Owl like an outsider, but when a family member falls ill, they are willing to use her herbal remedies to make them better. The focus of the novel occasionally shifts from Amos to members of the supporting cast such as Rebecca and Blue Owl, and this serves to further develop these characters as well as to expose the reader to a wider view of the story than what Amos is able to perceive. Overall, this is very good historical fiction that will appeal to readers who are interested in life on the frontier and the journey west.(less)

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Jul 09, 2010 Destinee Sutton rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: tween, teen, pioneers, families, historical-fiction, magical-realism, death

Gorgeous! Epic! Transporting! I 100% loved it.

One of my librarian colleagues took this book out of the running for our Mock Newbery early (back when the title was "The Dowser's Son") because of a couple lines right at the book's opening: "...he'd not been with a woman in a long time. Without thinking he said, 'Well, I reckon I could marry you.'" Out of context, I can see how this might make the book seem too mature for the Newbery age range (up to and including 14-year-olds). But I think this i...more Gorgeous! Epic! Transporting! I 100% loved it.

One of my librarian colleagues took this book out of the running for our Mock Newbery early (back when the title was "The Dowser's Son") because of a couple lines right at the book's opening: "...he'd not been with a woman in a long time. Without thinking he said, 'Well, I reckon I could marry you.'" Out of context, I can see how this might make the book seem too mature for the Newbery age range (up to and including 14-year-olds). But I think this is a Higher Power of Lucky scrotum-esque fallacy. Adolescents are not necessarily going to read "been with a woman" as "had sex with a woman" so they won't necessarily go so far as to read that line as, "he was horny," which is how most adults would read it. Just like how kids aren't scandalized by reading the world "scrotum." Which is to say, I'm going to argue that this should totally be included in our Mock Newbery. In fact, it just jumped to the top of my list.

Now back to the actual book. I would put The Water Seeker in a class with Anne of Green Gables, Little House on the Prairie, and Sarah Plain and Tall, i.e. the best historical fiction about families and communities. They have drama, humor, and the fascinating details of an earlier time in history. They're beautifully written. The characters seems real enough to touch. You just want to be their neighbors, to be part of the story, you know?

This story's hero is Amos Kincaid. Amos is born in 1833. His father is a beaver trapper, but he also has a special talent passed down to him from generations of Kincaids: he can find water in the ground. Amos inherits this skill, but it's a long time before he can use it.

Amos loses his mother at birth and is raised by a patchwork of communities: a minister and his wife at a mission near an Native American community, a family farm run by a widow and her six sons, traveling with his father and his new Shoshone wife, and on the Oregon Trail in a community of people seeking their fortunes out West. Along the way, the spirit of his mother follows him, almost haunting the women who come into his life.

There's so much in this story it's hard to believe it's just 300 pages. A sampling of the issues addressed: inheritance, domestic violence, racism, first love, death, what it means to be a family (or a tribe), and what it means to grow up and become a man. It's truly a beautiful story, filled with memorable characters, moments of joy and sadness, and a satisfying conclusion. (less)

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Jun 28, 2012 Jay rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Jay by: Vicki R.

Shelves: audiobook

'The Water Seeker' is the story of a boy and his rights of passage into manhood along the Oregon Trail. The story moves slowly but uses its time to develop the characters, especially Amos. There are bits of magic realism throughout, and a bit too many movie devices (coincidental meetings, teen romance, telegraphed deaths) for my liking, but I don't read many YA novels. These made the book more readable but less believable. I was surprised that dowsing was not the focus of the book, instead it wa...more

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Nov 22, 2010 Judi Paradis rated it 4 of 5 stars

A realistic, compelling look at life in the mid-1800s in the middle of America. Amos is a young boy living a precarious existence following his mother's death when he is born. His fur trapper father sends him off to live with relatives, later reclaims him, and then takes Amos on a memorable trek along the Oregon Trail with a pioneer wagon train. Throughout the book Holt lets us see how the insecurity of these years contributed to people being super cautious about many things (for example, not tr...more

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Aug 14, 2011 Josiah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Water Seeker compares well with some of the classic literary tales of simple living, novels such as The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. The Water Seeker is a book completely comfortable with bucking the recent trend toward stories with modern settings, and gives us a chance to experience the rawness of human emotion in a place and time that certainly was not lacking for such excruciating feelings of personal upheaval. In the lives that most...more The Water Seeker compares well with some of the classic literary tales of simple living, novels such as The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls. The Water Seeker is a book completely comfortable with bucking the recent trend toward stories with modern settings, and gives us a chance to experience the rawness of human emotion in a place and time that certainly was not lacking for such excruciating feelings of personal upheaval. In the lives that most of us live today, the sudden death of a family member would be a shocking blow; however, on the Oregon Trail during the middle of the nineteenth century, sudden death of perfectly healthy individuals, even very young children, was an ugly reality that everybody had to be prepared to endure. Today, most of us can only imagine what it would have been like to travel two thousand miles by covered wagon with little pre-made coffins bumping around among your luggage, ready to be used when your children died. Honestly, the potency of that emotional tide sweeping down through the centuries makes my head swim.

One wouldn't know it by the title, but The Water Seeker actually has very little to do with dowsing. Rather, it is mostly the account of the first twenty years or so in the life of young Amos Kincaid, a normal boy who faces all of the adversity common to residents of the United States in the 1840s. Slavery is still legal and doctors of any kind are all too rare, making it frighteningly easy for a person to die from a relatively mild injury or disease. The vast western section of the United States remains chiefly uncolonized, with territories (and future territories) such as California, Washington and Oregon attracting fortune hunters who want to claim their own stake in the free land being offered by the government to those pioneers who are intrepid enough to make the journey. Despite being only on the cusp of adolescence himself, Amos is drawn into taking this dangerous journey, along with his father and dozens of others looking to settle in the open west. They will attempt to brave the substantial risks that go along with walking the long and isolated trail in order to begin a new life for themselves.

However, there is much more to this book than just an insightful look into a boy embarking on the odyssey of a lifetime. When Amos is first born, it is from less than fortuitous circumstances; his mother dies during the delivery, and his father, Jake, isn't prepared to take care of a newborn baby on his own. Therefore, he passes his son on to his childless brother and sister-in-law, who raise Amos almost as their own, with infrequent visits made by Jake to keep in touch with his son. Yet this arrangement doesn't last forever, and eventually Amos, by then a young child, is out on the move with Jake. Jake comes from a family line of dowsers, people born with a gift for divining water, but he has always run from his strange ability. Even now, he avoids turning to dowsing as a profession, opting to get work anywhere else in any field of expertise that he can learn.

The Water Seeker has a deep, complex and rich plot, building well on what comes before to set up more significant meaning later on in the story. The tone of the writing is generally serious and perhaps a bit on the somber side, though author Kimberly Willis Holt doesn't fail to lighten the gloom with some moments of levity here and there. In fact, I'd say that the light spots of humor are made more important by the sadness that marks this story most of the way. It's historical fiction that definitely feels like historical fiction, sobering in its unflinching look at a grueling time in U.S. pioneering history when the lives of real people were being lost along the Oregon Trail at an alarming rate, but there's never any gratuitous death in The Water Seeker. I think you'll find that the deaths are all important in what they do to set the realistic tone of the novel, and help us best see what the lifestyle that so many people were opting to live at the time actually was like. Sudden death isn't something that anyone ever gets used to, even if it's happening all around you, and the horror in the reactions of Amos and his traveling companions also serves to keep the situation in perspective for us.

Amos Kincaid, himself, is a compelling character, but there are others within the story who will be no less unforgettable to passionate readers. There's Finn, Amos's very young cousin, for whom I feared most viscerally of all while they were on the Oregon Trail. When he quietly mentions one night about having nightmares "That I'm dead", it's like a portent of something too horrible to believe that's about to come around the bend. Then there's Gwendolyn, a girl of Amos's age who is accompanying her parents on the long land voyage. Her face had been seared in an episode of physical violence at the hands of her abusive father, but she loves Amos from a distance and hopes that someday he will return her affection even as she accepts that such a turn in fortune is unlikely. Then you have the Reverend McBride, a sincere Christian man who stands firmly by his beliefs without the stain of hypocrisy, truly wanting only to better the world by his endeavors on the trail. Many others join together to comprise the cast of characters and all of them feel authentic and complete, clearly the master work of an excellent writer. More than anything else, I would say it's the depth and realism of the characters that makes the emotion of the story come to life as painfully as it often does.

Not much is directly taught in this book. For the most part, potential life lessons from the story are sitting there to either be gleaned or not by observant readers, depending on how much of an emotional education one wishes the experience of reading this book to be. I've found that any powerful, richly constructed story is naturally going to evolve into an object lesson about life, but The Water Seeker never seems to strive to boil itself down to those kinds of teaching points, instead just letting the weighty emotion of its plot drive home the truths that the action presents.

There were some minor points to the narrative that I didn't fully understand, but those considerations were more than made up for by the strength of the story. I've got to go back to the phrase I used in the beginning paragraph to describe this book, saying that it's a story filled with "rawness of emotion". That's the The Water Seeker at its best, a vehicle for raw emotion that hits the reader hard numerous times during the story, ensuring that at least we'll never forget what we felt as we read it. I'm certain that I'll never forget. All things considered, there's a good chance that I would give three and a half stars to this book.(less)

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Jun 10, 2010 Jess rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: juv, historical-fiction

It's moving story, with themes about family, belonging, growing up, and learning to see past the surface of things, set during the 1830s and 40s. It pulls you in, makes you care for characters, doesn't spare you any of the pain of loss or change, takes you across the country on the Oregon Trail, makes you feel fear and first love. It manages to feel gritty without much violence, and it makes history close and immediate.

But will any kids pick it up off the shelf? I know, I know - just because it...more

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Dec 11, 2010 Sharon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: juvenile-fiction, historical-fiction, mock-newbery

A richly detailed historical fiction read, filled with quiet moments, that truly places the reader in the time of the Old West, before all the bells and whistles that TV, the Internet, and etc. provide. The hardships the main character, Amos, faces are always shown and never told: at the mercy of whatever food his family can catch, and made to take on chores and positions of leadership at a young age, he is a strong and well-defined character, as are the many family members and friends cast in t...more

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Nov 30, 2010 jess rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, yaf, fiction

I read this for my friend Laura's book club. The book club is reading Newbury contenders, but I haven't been playing along (it's a book club 2,000 miles away, ok?) so I have no idea how this book measures up. Regardless, I read it during a flight from Seattle to St Louis (my most-hated airport) and it made the flight seem short.

The basic plot centers around Amos Kincaid and his family, wherein "family" is defined in the Wild Wild West fashion as the people who are around you, who love you, take...more

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Aug 31, 2011 Anne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, historical-fiction, psc-reviews, young-adult

Amos is born into a hard life. His mother dies giving birth to him, so his trapper father leaves him to be raised by others, shuffled between in-laws, friends, and neighbors – all of whom are struggling to make a go of it as pioneers. When his father returns with a Native American wife, they take Amos and join a wagon train bound for Oregon. What Amos doesn't tell his dad is that he has inherited a gift, the ability to douse for water.

A good addition for those in need of historical fiction, part...more

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Aug 16, 2010 Phoebe rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A novel that covers a lot of ground and 26 years. Amos'father is a talkative mountain man who has the gift of dowsing, and his mother died giving birth to him (her ghost watches over him). Amos has a rough few years being passed around, after the death of his aunt Rebecca (a particularly horrific episode), and Holt perfectly evokes a child's feelings of powerlessness at the hands of adults. When Amos is a teenager, his father decides to head west on the Oregon trail, setting in motion a whole ne...more

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Dec 29, 2010 Deborah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

Delilah is a free spirit married to a scout/dowser. After Jake leaves to go scouting, Delilah finds herself pregnant. Before she gives birth, Delilah dreams that the baby is a boy and he passes through the hands of several women. When he returns to their cabin, Jake is surprised to find he has a son, and saddened to find Delilah died in childbirth. Knowing he wouldn't be the best person to raise Amos, Jake takes the baby to his brother and his wife to care for. This is the beginning of Amos's li...more

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Oct 01, 2010 Heather rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: childrens-fiction, coming-of-age, historical-fiction, mock-newbery-2011

I generally love bildungsroman novels, but I neither intensely liked nor disliked this book. It is a good read for middle graders about a boy who lives on the frontier and sets out for the West with his family. It has a thread of fantasy running through it, but I didn't feel there was enough closure with it at the end. I loved the romance, as Amos experiences his first crush and heartbreak, and especially the parts when he comes to see Gwendolyn gradually becoming more beautiful to him as he fal...more

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Aug 10, 2010 Chelsea rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: middle-grade-fiction

This book was a bit unexpected. Amos is the son of a dowser and a tragic woman with an affinity for birds. Left by his wandering father after his mother's death, he is raised in turn by a gentle, loving aunt, a hard-nosed but ultimately kind neighbor, and finally, his own wild father and his silent Shoshone wife. His foster mothers are all in turn haunted by the specter of his mother and the birds that seem to follow him everywhere. Amos is an authentic voice that grows and matures over the year...more

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About Kimberly Willis Holt

Kimberly Willis Holt is the author of the Piper Reed series, including Piper Reed, Navy Brat, Piper Reed, Clubhouse Queen, and Piper Reed, Rodeo Star. She has written many award-winning novels, including The Water Seeker and My Louisiana Sky, as well as the picture books Waiting for Gregory and Skinny Brown Dog. A former Navy brat herself, Holt was born in Pensacola, Florida, and lived all over th...more

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