Posted on by TracyC

The Ship That Never Was

ShipThatNeverWasThe Ship That Never Was by Mickey Spillane, 1982.

Larry Damar and Josh Toomey are sailing in a boat off the coast of Peolle Island in the Caribbean when they rescue an old man from what seems to be a skiff. But, as soon as they get him aboard their own boat, they realize that what they thought was a skiff is actually more of a long boat, and it looks old. Very old.

They take the old man, who is suffering from exhaustion, to their fathers. While the old man rests, they inspect the boat and confirm that it is an antique. Oddly, from the condition of the wood, they believe that it has been resting in water for some years, but not salt water. It’s the kind of longboat that would have been carried aboard larger naval ships from a couple hundred years earlier. The name on the side of the boat, HMS Tiger, is familiar, but they heard that it was lost at sea ages ago. The old man is also carrying what appears to be some very old documents, but they are unable to read them, and when the old man speaks, they’re not quite sure what language he’s speaking.

They send a message to Sir Harry Arnold at the antiquities department of the British Naval Archives about the boat and the old man. When he arrives, he confirms that the longboat came from the HMS Tiger, a three-masted ship built in England in 1791. The Tiger was considered a jinxed ship because of everything that went wrong during its construction and its maiden voyage. Because of that, no one wanted to sail on it again or even work on the ship to dismantle it. So, the builder decided to send the boat on one last voyage by itself. He and his men loaded up the ship with supplies as if it had a crew aboard and then set it adrift, watching it sail off majestically, without a crew. Everyone had assumed that it would have eventually sunk, damaged by the weather, but apparently, it survived for longer than anyone had suspected.

Since no one can understand his language, the old man, who calls himself Vali, draws pictures to explain to them where he came from. Vali indicates which island he came from, and according to his other drawings, he lived there with many other people until many of them were killed in some kind of storm. He also draws a picture of a young girl with a crown on her head. Then, Larry’s dad, Vincent, recognizes the seal on a signet ring that Vali shows them. Vincent has read about the history of the country of Grandau (fictional country), and he recognizes its royal seal.

About 200 years before, Grandau was overrun by a neighboring country. Members of the royal family of Grandau escaped the invasion along with some loyal servants and tried to flee across the Channel to England to seek sanctuary. However, they were only in an old fishing boat, and it was thought that it sunk in a storm before they reached England because such a small craft would be unlikely to have survived. Grandau has not been a happy country since then. Over the years, they have been ruled by a series of dictatorships, and it has been in an almost constant state of unrest.

Now, the presence of the longboat from the HMS Tiger presents a much more intriguing theory of what happened to King Tynere of Grandau and his people. By an unbelievable coincidence (your suspension of disbelief is required for this story), the royal family’s attempted escape to England happened around the same time that the HMS Tiger was sent off alone and fully equipped for its final voyage. It now seems that the desperate people on the fishing boat were saved by encountering this grand, unmanned ship that no one else wanted, that everyone feared was jinxed. Grandau was not a seafaring nation, so the people were probably unable to actually sail the ship, simply letting it drift until they found land. Eventually, they arrived at an island in the Caribbean, and their descendants have been living there ever since in anonymity, until the disaster that prompted Vali to risk venturing out for help.

Unfortunately, their attempts to determine what language Vali was speaking and where he came from have also come to the attention of the wrong people. The government currently in power in Grandau has been working hard to stamp out the history and culture of the country in order to tighten its hold on the people, although their hold has never been more than tenuous, just like all the other dictatorships since Grandau’s royal family fled. Now that word has reached them that members of the royal family that the people of Grandau mourn may actually still be alive, they are determined to eliminate them before they can return to their ancestral home.

The author of this book, Mickey Spillane, is best known for his Mike Hammer series of hard-boiled mysteries for adults, and some of his hard-boiled style shows in this adventure book for children. This book is also part of a short series, although I don’t have the first book, The Day the Sea Rolled Back. In that book, Larry and Josh are helping their fathers hunt for sunken treasure, but their efforts are being sabotaged by a pair of treasure-hunting brothers.

Posted on by TracyC · 2 Comments

Jumanji

Jumanji

Jumanji by Chris Van Allsburg, 1981.

Judy and Peter, a brother and sister, are left home alone while their parents go to an opera. In spite of their parents’ warning not to make a mess because they’ll be bringing guests by later, the kids scatter all of their toys around while playing. Then, the kids go to the park to play for awhile, and they find a board game labeled Jumanji with a note that the game is free to anyone who wants to play it. Judy and Peter decide to give the game a try and take it home.

JumanjiPark

Jumanji turns out to be a kind of race game. Players are supposed to make their way down a path through a jungle, facing all kinds of dangers, until someone reaches the golden city of Jumanji. The instructions warn them that once a game has begun, it will not be over until one of the players reaches Jumanji.

JumanjiGameStart

At first, Peter thinks that the game is boring and easy, but it soon becomes apparent that things that happen in the board game are starting to happen in real life when a live lion suddenly appears after an encounter with one on the game board.  Peter is scared and wants to stop playing, but Judy reminds him that they can’t stop because the game won’t end until one of them reaches the end of the path on the game board. Until the game ends, they’re stuck with the lion and anything else that happens to appear because of the game. They have no choice but to keep playing, facing each danger as wild animals rampage through their house.

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Chris Van Allsburg books always have amazing illustrations, and the pictures in this book are especially good!  At the end of the book, the children see two other children find the game, which leads to the sequel, Zathura.

JumanjiRhino

There is a movie version of this book, but the movie differs greatly from the original story. In the movie, the two kids were friends, not brother and sister, and the boy ends up trapped in the game for a period of years until, finally, a new set of kids starts playing and helps the original players to finish their game.  When their game ends, the original children are returned to their own time, and no one but them knows that they were ever gone.  Things turn out better for the future children as well because the older players make things better for everyone in their own time.  There were no players stuck in the game in the original book, and everything takes place during a single day.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

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Who Stole Kathy Young?

KathyYoungWho Stole Kathy Young? by Margaret Goff Clark, 1980.

Kathy Young has had her share of problems.  Her mother died a year and a half ago, and now, her father has a housekeeper with a sour personality.  A couple of months after her mother’s death, Kathy was seriously ill, and her illness caused her to lose most of her hearing.  She now depends on a hearing aid and her improving lip-reading and sign language abilities.

This summer, Kathy’s best friend, Meg, is staying with her while her parents are on a trip to Switzerland.  Meg was of great help to Kathy when she was trying to adjust to her hearing loss, practicing sign language with her during her special lessons.  Kathy’s dream is to become an artist, but Meg now wants to be a teacher for the deaf, like the teacher who taught Kathy.  Kathy is still very unsure of her abilities to cope with her deafness.  She had the opportunity to attend a special art workshop over the summer but passed it up because she was worried about whether she would be able to communicate with and understand her teacher and the other students, and she knew Meg couldn’t attend to help her.

Kathy has been enjoying Meg’s summer visit, but the girls have noticed something odd.  It seems like a couple of strangers, a man and a woman, have been hanging around everywhere they go.  Meg is worried about it, but Kathy doesn’t want to worry her father.  She thinks that they’re probably tourists, like the housekeeper said.  They nickname the strangers Heron and Toad because of their appearances.

One day, Kathy is kidnapped!  Some men in a van stop to ask her directions and when she tries to explain where they have to go, they pull her inside and drug her!  Meg witnesses the kidnapping, but is standing too far away to help Kathy.

When Kathy wakes up from being drugged, she finds herself on a boat.  Her abductors have cut her hair and changed her shirt to disguise her from anyone who might spot her.  They’ve also taken her hearing aid, hoping to render her helpless and keep her from finding out their plans because she can’t hear them.  However, Kathy isn’t as helpless as they think.  She can still read lips, and she can still think.

Kathy learns to rely on herself and her own wits as she tries to gather as much information as she can about her kidnappers and to figure out how she can save herself.  Through this experience, she develops more self-confidence, realizing that she can do more and handle more than she had thought was possible.

While Kathy is struggling in captivity and her father is dealing with the police and the ransom demand, her friend Meg is trying desperately to find her.  The story alternates viewpoints between the two girls as Meg aids the investigation into Kathy’s disappearance and puts together clues that Kathy leaves for her as her abductors move her from place to place.  The mastermind behind the kidnapping plot is closer to home than they think.

The book is available to borrow and read for free online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

The Great and Terrible Quest

greatterriblequestThe Great and Terrible Quest by Margaret Lovett, 1970.

This story takes place in a fictional kingdom during the Middle Ages. Trad is a ten-year-old boy who has lived most of his life with his abusive grandfather. He barely remembers his parents, who died in a plague when he was only four. This grandfather consorts with robbers and evil men. Trad often pretends to be stupid to avoid their notice and warns travelers away from their territory.

One day, he rescues a man who has been badly wounded and cares for him in a secret cave. This man, whose white hair makes him seem elderly, insists that he is on a mission, a great and terrible quest . . . but because of a head wound, he can’t remember what his quest is. All that he knows is that time is short, and he does not have long to complete his quest to find something very important.

Trad soon learns that his grandfather’s wicked friends are the ones who attacked this mysterious stranger. Taking Trad’s father’s old lute, a couple of coins, and a mysterious ring dropped by one of the robbers which seems to have once belonged to the stranger, Trad and the stranger embark on a journey across the land, making friends and pursued by enemies as they go. While the stranger struggles to remember his identity and the nature of his mission, Trad begins to learn a few things about his own forgotten past and the nature of his family. Nothing is what it seems. Their country is in trouble because of the evil men who have been controlling it. Everything depends on the success of the stranger’s mission, and Trad has a much larger role to play than he had ever dreamed.

It’s a beautiful and fascinating story about good and evil, loyalty, friendship, and determination to do the right thing, even against the odds. There are parts that might frighten younger readers. The fights are violent and bloody, and there are a couple instances of cruelty to animals (partly, it seems, to show how truly evil Trad’s enemies are). Still, it’s a great story for tweens and teens, and readers will want to cheer Trad on as he struggles to help those around him and find his own destiny.

Although the kingdom is fictional and the themes are similar to fantasy stories, there is no actual magic in the story.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

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The Battle for the Castle

battlecastleThe Battle for the Castle by Elizabeth Winthrop, 1994.

This is the sequel to The Castle in the Attic.

William is growing up.  As William’s twelfth birthday approaches, he feels like he and his best friend, Jason, are growing apart. Actually, what he fears is that Jason is out-growing him. Jason has grown taller than William and much more muscular, thanks to his off-road bike training sessions with his father. William, on the other hand, is still short and feels like a shrimp next to Jason.

In their town, it is traditional for boys to “jump the trains” when they turn twelve. It involves grabbing hold of a ladder on the side of one of the cars as the train reaches a point on the track when it slows down, climbing over the top of the car, and jumping off the other side. It’s a dangerous trick to pull, and parents try to keep the kids from doing it. Still, the boys who don’t do it are considered to be wimps by the others. When Jason and William try, Jason makes it, but William gives up when his hand starts to slip. William is not hurt, but he is embarrassed at his failure.

To show Jason that he’s not just a wimp, William decides to let him in on the secret of the castle in the attic. Mrs. Phillips decided not to drop the magic token into the sea along with Alastor as she said she would (see previous book), and she sends it to William as a birthday present. After William explains to Jason how the token works, he convinces him to become small with him and visit Sir Simon and William’s other friends. When the boys arrive, they are welcomed by Sir Simon, who is about to leave for a tournament. William and Jason agree to help look after Sir Simon’s castle until he returns, along with his friend Dick, Dick’s son Tolliver, and Dick’s niece Gudrin. Sir Simon’s old nurse, Callendar, has died, but before her death, she made a prophecy of death and danger. Almost everyone believes that she was just raving, but Gudrin knows that danger is approaching. A strange ship of skeletons has been seen approaching the town, and bones have been floating down the river. Sir Simon had the ship towed out to see again, and Dick thinks there’s nothing more to fear. However, the ship has returned, and the boys and Gudrin know that something must be done in order to keep Callendar’s prophecy from coming true.

There is an army of rats aboard the ship, led by a giant rat that walks on its back legs like a human. The boys and Gudrin attempt to burn the ship, but the rats escape and begin attacking people across the countryside. When one of these people makes it to the castle to warn everyone, Dick finally believes them that something needs to be done. Most of the people are sent away from the castle, Tolliver is sent to bring Sir Simon back to help, and the others stay to wait out the siege. Although William is scared, he manages to keep his head and come up with a plan that defeats the rats once and for all.

In the end, when the boys return to their own world, William declares that he will never jump the trains because he thinks it’s a crazy stunt. Jason doesn’t mind because, as he says, “there’s more than one way to jump the trains.” William doesn’t need to prove that he’s grown up by performing a crazy stunt because he’s already behaved with courage and maturity while facing real problems and saving the lives of other people.

Posted on by TracyC

The Haunted Hotel

The Haunted Hotel

The Haunted Hotel by Janet Adele Bloss, 1989.

Laura and Bill are visiting their Uncle Joe, who is the caretaker of a large hotel in New Hampshire. The hotel is closed for the winter because it is too old and poorly-insulated to heat. The children think that the big, old hotel is fascinating, especially when they begin hearing stories about the ghost of a princess who is said to haunt the hotel and put people under her spell to do her bidding.  It’s just the sort of thing that Laura reads about in her favorite series of mystery books, and she’d love the chance to investigate something like the heroine, Gwen Gilderstar.

Bill rolls his eyes at Laura’s melodramatic mystery obsession, but then the children begin noticing that their uncle is behaving strangely, and they start to wonder if he is under the princess’s spell.  When they first arrived, their uncle told them that his sister, their Aunt Gigi, had gone away to visit a sick friend.  Then, Laura overhears him talking to Gigi on the phone, saying that she and her brother and parents went out to dinner, so she can’t talk to them.  Later, Laura gets the chance to talk to Aunt Gigi and finds out that she only went to visit her friend because Joe insisted and that her friend isn’t sick.  What is going on?  Why would her uncle lie?  Is he under the princess’s spell?

Laura and Bill see mysterious lights and a shadowy figure in the windows of the closed hotel.  Could that be the ghost of the princess?  Even though their parents have forbidden them to go inside the old hotel, the kids go there to investigate.  They hear organ music and a woman laughing, and they find a red rose on the floor, just like the roses in the portrait of the princess.  Then, Bill catches a glimpse of the princess in the elevator, carrying a silver axe!  Laura is determined to solve the mystery, just like Gwen Gilderstar.  She’s afraid, but she knows that she has to do something for her uncle’s sake.

My Reaction

I loved this book when I was a kid because it’s a fun mystery. Laura is a girl after my own heart, who loves mystery stories in the classic girl detective style. “Gwen Gilderstar” seems to be a character similar to Nancy Drew, Trixie Belden, or other girl detective characters. Because of her taste in books, Laura looks at everything that happens through the lens of a spooky mystery story, initially not seeing the more practical explanations for the things happening around her. Although the setting of the book, a seemingly haunted hotel that’s closed for the winter season, reminds me of The Shining, the actual plot reminds me more of Northanger Abbey, the classic book by Jane Austen about a girl with an active imagination and a taste for frightening stories.

Posted on by TracyC · 1 Comment

The Haunting of Grade Three

HauntingG3The Haunting of Grade Three by Grace Maccarone, 1984.

Elwood Elementary has become overcrowded, so the third-graders have been moved to an old mansion, Blackwell House, which has been empty for years. The house looks kind of spooky, and there are a lot of local ghost stories about it. Fortunately, Adam Johnson likes scary stories, so he thinks that it’s wonderful to go to school there.

Soon after the students move into the house, strange things begin happening. Objects fall off desks and shelves, and door slam for no reason.  Some of the kids discover a grave marker on the property for a boy about their age who died during the Civil War.  The kids start getting nervous, and so does their teacher, Mr. Jenkins. Then, Mr. Jenkins decides to give the kids group assignments. Each committee gets to go to a different place in town and learn about it. Adam’s committee is assigned to study Blackwell House and decide if it’s really haunted. The kids think their assignment is pretty strange, but Adam is excited.  He wants to be a ghost hunter like on Ghostbusters!

HauntingGradeThreeMost of the group members are misfits in one way or another. Norma Hamburger is a shy girl, frequently teased about her last name. Debbie Clark is a talkative girl who’s really into science. Chuck Webber, Adam’s best friend, is the class clown, always telling stupid jokes (and one of the main people who teases Norma about her name). Danny Biddicker is strong and good at sports, but he worries that he’s not as smart as the others. Joey Baker feels overshadowed by his large family, so he tells tall tales to get attention. The other kids don’t understand and get annoyed with his lies. By working together, they not only learn the secret of Blackwell House, but they learn more about each other and become a real team and friends.

In the end, there is a reasonable explanation for the haunting of Blackwell House.  The kids take a methodical approach to the mystery, gathering their facts and ruling out various possibilities along the way.  Joey gets a chance to be a real hero, Danny proves to himself and everyone else that he’s smart and has good ideas, and Adam gets a new life ambition.

HauntingG3Pic

One other thing that I thought was interesting is that Adam, the main character in the story, is African American, but it’s never mentioned in the text of the story.  You only know because it’s shown in the pictures.  It’s just a little detail and not important to the story, but I thought it was interesting in a story that encourages kids to notice details.  I also liked it that Adam isn’t defined by race or appearance as so many characters in kids’ books are.  He stands by himself as an interesting character with his own ideas, courage, and leadership abilities.

This is the first book in the Third Grade Ghosthunters series.  It is currently available online through Internet Archive.

Posted on by TracyC

The Green Book

greenbookThe Green Book by Jill Paton Walsh, 1982.

The story takes place at an indeterminate time in the future. Earth is dying as the sun grows dimmer. The only hope for humans is to find new homes on other planets. In one of the last ships to leave Earth is a father and his three children: Joe, Sarah, and Pattie. They can take very little with them, only a few practical things, a couple of small keepsakes, and a single book each.

The journey to their new planet takes years, and people quickly go through their own books. Pattie, who is very young, brings a blank book with a green cover, which the others criticize and tease her about.  What use is a book with nothing in it that you can’t even read?

When they finally arrive on their new planet, everything is strange. The native plants seem to have a glass-like quality which makes them sharp, shiny, and dangerous to eat. Their guide came equipped with a set of rules to help them get their colony established, but soon they run out of rules and are completely on their own. Survival is a constant struggle, and everything involves a new discovery.

At first, it seems like they aren’t going to make it, but the children’s willingness to take a chance saves the day. Also, the little green book that Pattie brought gives the colonists hope. As they have exhausted all the old stories, she provides them with the first new one on their new world.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

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The Treasure of Kilvarra

TreasureKilvarraThe Treasure of Kilvarra by Elizabeth Baldwin Hazelton, 1974.

Christie and Kevin MacAlistaire go to Ireland with their mother to visit a family friend, Padraic O’Flaherty, and their visit turns into a terrifying treasure hunt!  Christie is fascinated by the gypsies living nearby and asks to visit them.  It’s her birthday, and the oldest gypsy, Sorcha, tells her fortune.  She says that Christie is fated to discover a treasure during her visit to Ireland, but there will be great danger involved, and she will need her brother to protect her.  Sorcha also gives Christie an amulet filled with holy ashes to help keep her safe.

Christie is eager to find the treasure Sorcha spoke of, although she doesn’t know what kind of treasure she is supposed to find or what kind of danger she will face along the way.  Their new friends tell them the history of the region with stories of ancient kings, fairy folk, and haunted castles.  Christie and Kevin visit some of these supposedly haunted ruins with their new friend Colum (a gypsy boy) and his pet crow, Ben.  Colum tells them the history of the castle ruins and the legends associated with it, and they discover that Christie has the ability to see and hear things that the boys can’t: spirits of the past.  Unfortunately, Ben is fascinated by Christie’s amulet and takes it, losing it in a nearby river.

KilvarraWithout the amulet to protect her, Christie continues her search for the treasure.  An accidental injury takes her to the place where it is hidden, but it’s a dangerous place.  Caught in a terrible storm, the children explore an ancient stone tower.  There, Christie sees the ghost of a long-dead monk, gesturing to her, begging her to follow him to the treasure that she seeks.  The monk died protecting it, and it’s a very unexpected but wonderful treasure indeed.  But, getting out of the place is going to be even more dangerous than getting in.

The book is currently available online through Internet Archive.

This is actually the second book in a series about Christie MacAlistaire and her brother Kevin.  Unfortunately, I don’t have the first one and haven’t read it.  I do know that the first book in the series is called The Haunted Cove.  Christie and Kevin spend the summer in a cottage by the sea in Oregon, where they investigate a cove haunted by the ghosts of sailors and a woman who may be a witch.

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The Castle in the Attic

CastleAtticThe Castle in the Attic by Elizabeth Winthrop, 1985.

Ten-year-old William’s life is being turned upside down.  Mrs. Phillips, his nanny, is leaving for good!  Mrs. Phillips has lived with William’s family and helped to take care of William ever since he was born. Both of his parents work, so William spends most of his time with Mrs. Phillips after school. She fixes him his snacks, takes him to his gymnastics lessons, spots for him as he practices his routine, and reads stories about King Arthur with him. However, now that William is ten years old, Mrs. Phillips thinks that she would like to go live with her brother in England, which is where she is from. William is upset because he can’t imagine life without Mrs. Phillips. Mrs. Phillips tells him that he will be fine without her and that his parents will start spending more time with him after she leaves. William tries everything he can think of to get her to stay, but she is determined that it’s time for her to go.

As a leaving present, Mrs. Phillips gives him a toy castle that has been in her family for generations, along with a little lead figure known as the Silver Knight. Still, William is determined to find a way to keep Mrs. Phillips from leaving.  Then, he discovers that the toy castle is magic! When the little knight comes to life and gives him a magic token that can make people small, William thinks he’s found the way he’s been looking for. With Mrs. Phillip’s impending departure and his fears of losing her, William suddenly realizes that he can use the magic coin to keep Mrs. Phillips with him.  Before she can leave, he shrinks her and puts her in the castle with the knight.

Of course, turning his nanny small and keeping her inside the toy castle was unethical, as Mrs. Phillips and the knight point out, but William’s mistake proves to be only the beginning of a fantastic journey that will fulfill a legend, free the knight’s kingdom from the reign of an evil wizard, and give William the confidence he’s been looking for.

Over the drawbridge of the castle is a poem about the beginning of a quest. Mrs. Phillips had said that there was a legend about the little knight, and when he comes alive, he tells William that his name is Sir Simon and that he was turned to lead by an evil wizard who has taken over his kingdom. The poem is the key to defeating the wizard, and the little token is really only half of one that the wizard was wearing around his neck. When William turns Mrs. Phillips small, he cannot reverse the spell because he lacks the other half of the amulet. To get it, he must become small himself and fulfill the poem by crossing the drawbridge as Sir Simon’s squire.  The two of them set out together to defeat the wizard and retrieve the other half of the token. Along the way, they become separated, and William must continue on to the wizard’s castle and finish the quest by himself. William has an inner strength that he doesn’t fully appreciate at first, and he can use it to defeat the evil wizard!

There is a sequel to this book called The Battle for the Castle.

My Reaction

I liked this story when I was a kid, and it’s a good coming-of-age story.  The sequel is also a coming-of-age story, but in a different way.  This book is about William coming to a better understanding of what kind of person he is and what he’s really capable of doing.  He can do more and handle more than he thinks he can.  In the end, although William is still a little sad at saying goodbye to Mrs. Philips when she leaves, he feels a little better about her going because he knows that he can take care of himself now, thanks to his magical adventures. Mrs. Phillips tells him that he always had what he needed inside himself but that he just didn’t believe it before.

The next book focuses on what it really means to be a man instead of a boy.  As William and his best friend grow up and are under social pressure from other boys to do a certain stunt in order to prove that they’re really grown-up, William and his friend set out on a magical adventure that teaches them that there are more ways of becoming a man than one.