The Loner by Ester Wier was a debut novel for the author and received a Newbery Honor in 1964.

“During the 1960s and 1970s, Ester Wier published other works of fiction and non-fiction for children and young adults that were praised by critics for their well-researched settings and details. Many of her books are ‘stories of children, primarily boys, who are seeking acceptance by themselves or others,’ and Ester Wier has been lauded for her understanding of ‘youth’s efforts to stand on its own’ and children’s ‘need to achieve and be accepted.'”

The loner of the title is a boy who at the beginning of the story has no name. He travels with the migrant crop-pickers from place to place, catching a ride with anyone who will give him transportation, food, and a place to sleep in exchange for his work harvesting the crops. He doesn’t remember his parents or what happened to them, and he has never had a family or a friend until he meets Raidy, a fellow crop-picker who does have a family and who chooses to care about the boy and call him friend.

Unfortunately, tragedy strikes, and the boy is again on his own and near despair in the wild and lonely Big Country of Montana. At his lowest point, he is rescued by Boss, a big woman, something of a loner herself, who is a sheepherder. The Boy takes the name David, and along with the name he begins to learn how to care for other people and allow them to care for him—but not without a few rather dangerous and serious mistakes along the way.

I read this story of a boy coming of age in sheep country several years ago when my children were using a literature based curriculum that recommended the book. I remember liking it then, but as I read it a second time, I loved it even more. The analogy between the boy David and an orphan sheep, the way David learns from his mistakes, the way Boss learns to communicate her motherly and compassionate feelings to David, the way other adultscome alongside and help David to grow up and become responsible and connected—all of these were themes and issues that were addressed in the book, and addressed and worked through well.

There are content considerations (SPOILERS) that you may want to know about. The girl, Raidy, dies in a rather gruesome farm accident. Animals die in the book, including a pet sheep that the reader has probably grown to love. David kills a rogue grizzly bear with a gun that he has been taught to use by a caring adult.

Despite the rough and rural setting in which David and others must learn hard lessons about the dangers of winter weather and isolated spaces, the story is ultimately hopeful and encouraging. David, a boy who has been dealt a bad hand in life, grows to be a young man who knows how to make good choices and be independent while also leaning on the strengths and wisdom and love of others.