Man Overboard!

Parkinson, Curtis       Man Overboard!   

 Tundra Books      2012  152p  $9.95

978-1-77049-298-1 ms     VG-BN     Historical fiction     

Curtis Parkinson lives on a sailboat and uses his knowledge about sailing as the basis for several of his nautical novels for young adults.  In Man Overboard! 16-year-old Scott and his friend Adam score summer jobs as deckhands on the Rapids Prince, a ship that travels between Montreal and Prescott, a town on the St. Lawrence River. 

When Adam stumbles onto information about a German agent, he decides not to tell anybody. He is afraid that if the captain finds out where Adam was when he overheard the conversation, he will lose his job. His silence leads to trouble, including a possible murder and a kidnapping.  The innocent passengers on board the Rapids Prince are in jeopardy unless the boys expose the agent, who may have planted a bomb on board the ship.  Will they do this in time?

Reminiscent of the Hardy Boys mysteries, this book is a fast-paced, gripping tale that is sure to engage teen readers. Drawing on elements of a true historical event, the plot provides clues at a pace guaranteed to keep young mystery lovers turning the pages.     

     

VG-BN Hilary Welliver   World War II, Mystery, Spies, Canada

 

Towell, Ann. Grease Town

Towell, Ann Grease Town
Tundra Books 2010 232p 19.99
978-0-88776-983-2 elm/ms prejudice appears in Canada in 1860s in oil town VG


Titus Sullivan grows up too quickly when he stows away to Oil Springs, Ontario, an oil town where whites and blacks work side by side in the oil business. Prejudice does not triumph in this tale of the strength of family and tolerance in the 1860s. Not only did the United States fight the Civil War for slaves’ freedom, but also Canada, in its support of tolerance. In the 1850s and 60s our runaway slaves went north to find jobs, and in Oil Springs, Ontario, were forced to work for lower wages, exacerbating already turbulent economic times. As historical fiction, Grease Town is valid and even predictive of what happens when the hateful minority takes charge. It shows the world that prejudice appears everywhere, under a variety of circumstances. In this case, Titus Sullivan’s friendship with Moses, the young son of former slaves, is jeopardized when the members of the town burn down Negro shanties. After running through the night to warn Moses about the impending attack, Titus witnesses the entire incident, and helpless to prevent the conflagration, he shuts down both figuratively and literally. He cannot talk. Will he talk at the trial? The reader doesn’t know until the end of the book when Titus’s Aunt Sadie comes to town and harangues Uncle Amos, with whom Titus resides, to such an extent that Titus must speak out on his behalf! “Shut up!” he shouts at his aunt. Ann Towell adds humor to a dramatic resolution, and brings the book to a close when she has Titus speaking at the trial of the despicable men who had jeopardized the tentative peace of the oil town. This book has good character description and plot, and although children might prefer more action, there is a universal theme that is appealing and thought-provoking. Children learn a bit about oil drilling as well as about the rough characters that the oil business attracted to oil towns over a century ago. Realistic Fiction Squaresky, Martha

Towell, Ann. Grease Town

Towell, Ann Grease Town
Tundra Books 2010 232p 19.99
978-0-88776-983-2 elm/ms prejudice appears in Canada in 1860s in oil town VG


Titus Sullivan grows up too quickly when he stows away to Oil Springs, Ontario, an oil town where whites and blacks work side by side in the oil business. Prejudice does not triumph in this tale of the strength of family and tolerance in the 1860s. Not only did the United States fight the Civil War for slaves’ freedom, but also Canada, in its support of tolerance. In the 1850s and 60s our runaway slaves went north to find jobs, and in Oil Springs, Ontario, were forced to work for lower wages, exacerbating already turbulent economic times. As historical fiction, Grease Town is valid and even predictive of what happens when the hateful minority takes charge. It shows the world that prejudice appears everywhere, under a variety of circumstances. In this case, Titus Sullivan’s friendship with Moses, the young son of former slaves, is jeopardized when the members of the town burn down Negro shanties. After running through the night to warn Moses about the impending attack, Titus witnesses the entire incident, and helpless to prevent the conflagration, he shuts down both figuratively and literally. He cannot talk. Will he talk at the trial? The reader doesn’t know until the end of the book when Titus’s Aunt Sadie comes to town and harangues Uncle Amos, with whom Titus resides, to such an extent that Titus must speak out on his behalf! “Shut up!” he shouts at his aunt. Ann Towell adds humor to a dramatic resolution, and brings the book to a close when she has Titus speaking at the trial of the despicable men who had jeopardized the tentative peace of the oil town. This book has good character description and plot, and although children might prefer more action, there is a universal theme that is appealing and thought-provoking. Children learn a bit about oil drilling as well as about the rough characters that the oil business attracted to oil towns over a century ago. Realistic Fiction Squaresky, Martha

The Eco-Diary of Kiran Singer

Alderson, Sue Ann. The Eco-Diary of Kiran Singer.
Orca, 2007. 66p $15.95 978-1-896580-4-70

Kiran writes to her grandmother worrying about the disappearing rain forests, pollution, terrorists, and other man-made and natural concerns. She says, “We have to do something. Sometimes I’m scared. But what can I do? I’m just a kid.” Grandma replies with an invitation to join her work party for a “bit of the planet right here practically in our backyard that needs looking after – it’s a little bog.” She also gives Kiran a diary for her twelfth birthday. Kiran replies that she will use the diary for poems she writes at the bog.
Following the table of contents the rest of the book is written in verse. Each section opens with a small picture of the diary open to a new page with just the day of the week written on it. Four, five, or six poems follow, each is accompanied by a soft painting that illustrates something mentioned in the poem. Many of the poems are about animals or plants that live in the bog; others are about the sounds heard or the people in the work party.
The introduction tells us that the bog and the “Crazy Boggers” working on the restoration of the bog are real. “Camosun bog is an unusually small bog in an unusual locale at the edge of a public park in the middle of Vancouver, British Columbia.”
A web site for more information about the bog is included. Readers interested in a similar environmental project are told to contact their local natural history or Audubon Club. MT