Reader thoughts: So, Ralph Moody is just a really cool guy. I wish I could have met him. The big things I didn't like about this book were that 1, it's the last in the series. 2, he gets married at the end.
So funny, and heartbreaking. My favorites are still the ones about when he's 8 to 14 best, the first 4 or so. He makes more mistakes in those, which makes it more interesting.
In this book, my favorite scene, which was only a paragraph or so, is the one with the sheep.
Ralph said the most he made in one trip was over some animals he didn't even ship. He found himself watching a frustrated shepherd, who shouted, "Who'll take these sheep?"
Ralph said, "I'll give you 4 dollars a head."
Then the man said, "SOLD!"
Another in the crowd said, "5 dollars a head!"
Ralph said, "SOLD!" and there were too many witnesses to deny that he had bought the sheep and owned them for two seconds. He made a dollar per sheep, and there were over two hundred sixty. Which means he made over $130 per second for that transaction.
HA! For a man saddled with someone else's debt, that was a big relief, and still so funny. Oh, and Ralph learns some things about himself in this book, too, and about his diabetes. Let's just say, it was a happy ending, which I love, and keeps this from being a 3-star book.
Writer thoughts: The small things I didn't like were all the telling (he summarizes a lot to get through about a year and a half). There were no times when Ralph's life was in danger (other than from the diabetes), and his worries were all about money rather than the more diverse concerns we saw in other books (friendships and safety and ornery horses and growing with a better character). There was a blizzard and a flood, I suppose, but Ralph spent barely a paragraph on those except to explain how much stock/money they cost him.
It's like there wasn't anything small Ralph had to deal with (or he didn't remember the small things) because of all the debt he worried about instead. He didn't worry about the car breaking down because of a $1 item. He was on good terms with the horses and people all around. He didn't break any toes or catch the measles or get attacked by bees or steal chocolate from his parents. Those happened when he was younger.
These picky pieces of the book don't change the story, and many readers might not notice them. Still, the first 7 books have stronger writing.