The point of view [of A Pistol in Greenyards] is noble and humanitarian. Unfortunately, the style is so pedestrian, the dialogue so stilted and the characters so black-and-white that the story, which would be magnificent were it written with the subtle understanding of a Rebecca Caudill, ends up as melodrama.

Edward Fenton, "Children's Book World: 'A Pistol in Greenyards'," in Book World—Chicago Tribune (© 1968 Postrib Corp.; reprinted by permission of Chicago Tribune and The Washington Post), June 2, 1968, p. 20.