Shaking the Nickel Bush

Skinny and suffering from diabetes, Ralph Moody is ordered by a Boston doctor to seek a more healthful climate. Going west again is a delightful prospect. His childhood adventures on a Colorado ranch were described in Little Britches and Man of the Family, also Bison Books.

Now nineteen years old, he strikes out into new territory hustling odd jobs, facing the problem of getting fresh milk and leafy green vegetables. He scrapes around to survive, risking his neck as a stunt rider for a movie company. With an improvident buddy named Lonnie, he camps out in an Arizona canyon and "shakes the nickel bush" by sculpting plaster of paris busts of lawyers and bankers. This is 1918, and the young men travel through the Southwest not on horses but in a Ford aptly named Shiftless. New readers and old will enjoy this entry in the continuing saga of Ralph Moody.

Author: Ralph Moody
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Bison Books
Published: 08/01/1994
Pages: 236
Weight: 0.55lbs
Size: 7.97h x 5.29w x 0.56d
ISBN: 9780803282186

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 5.8
Point Value: 13
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 51493 / Shaking the Nickel Bush


Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 11/01/1994 pg. 116

About the Author
Ralph Moody (1898-1982) is the author of Come on Seabicuit! as well as the Little Britches series about a boy's life on a Colorado ranch, all available in Bison Books editions.