This Month's Book Reviews

An historical adventure that takes place
in an unusual setting

From our own reading, most of us adults think of the Tower of London as a dark and creepy place. In "The Ravenmaster's Secret," author Elvira Woodruff, paints a picture of what a dank and smelly environment the Tower could be. The characters she places in the setting rival any of the colorful characters out of a Dickens's novel. How many of us knew that ravens were kept in the Tower under the King's protection because of a prophecy made in the eleventh century? How about the fact that "rat catchers" were employed to supply food for the ravens?

Surprising to a modern reader would be such things as the unquestioned power of the king in matters of life and death, the bloodthirstiness of the mobs at public executions, and the terrible poverty of the lower classes in that era. The book is both historically informative and a great adventure story.

 

A haunted house story that involves kids of all ages

Betty Ren Wright, author of "Crandalls' Castle" is known for writing mysteries and stories of the supernatural aimed at young readers. Along with her knack for setting up chills and suspense, Wright's teen-age characters and the descriptions of family tensions are true to life. This ability to combine reality and unusual happenings works to quickly involve her young readers in the strange events of her novel. For kids who say they like scary stories, this one is a winner.

 

Tension in a frontier family is resolved
through the efforts of a young boy

"Caleb's Story" is the first in a possible series of sequels to "Sarah, Plain and Tall" by Patricia MacLachlan. The books tell the heartwarming and wholesome story of a pioneer farm family struggling to make a life on the Great Plains during the last part of the 19th century. Sarah, the mail-order bride from Maine, along with Jacob, the widower, and his children make up the characters in the story. People of that era had moved past log cabins and sod houses, but were still living relatively primitive lives in comparison with the way we live in the early 21st century.

"Caleb's Story" is of particular interest, because it tells how a young boy finds out his grandfather's secret as to why he never wrote a letter to the relatives he left behind. When Caleb finds out that his long-lost grandfather can neither read nor write, he determines to teach these skills to the old man. In doing this, Caleb softens his own father's heart to the point where he, Jacob, can get over his bitterness and accept once again the father he had once loved and admired. Isn't this the kind of reading you would like to see your child engaged in?

 

Another book about Irish Immigrants
by a Newbery Honor-winning author

Patricia Reilly Giff, author of "Maggie's Door" has already received two Newbery Honors for past books, along with numerous other awards for her children's books. "Maggie's Door" is a sequel to "Nory Ryan's Song" and tells what happened to characters from the earlier book.

Author Giff is noted for her research into Irish history. Her style in writing this little book is to alternate chapters that deal with the events of the two main characters' lives as they reach the port of Galway and travel across the Atlantic to New York. A young reader needs to be prepared for the harsh realities of the trip, as the author does little to sugarcoat these actual historic events.