Hold on to your tunic and truncheon in this action-filled adventure.
A boy in medieval Italy flees his cruel master and strikes out for freedom.
Faced with being publicly branded by Malaspina, his bad-tempered master, 14-year-old Bec musters his wits, strength, and agility for a daring escape to the forest, planning to make his way south to Ponti. Bec, whose mother has died and whose father is unknown, counts horses and dogs as his best companions and is prepared to make the perilous journey alone. But a chance encounter with a black-haired boy wearing a gold earring results in the two renegades deciding to travel together. Tien Nu, whose Chinese father came from Samarkand and whose mother came from “Alessandria” in “Africa,” is an entertainer who juggles and tumbles—and he carries a heavy secret. Tien Nu teaches Bec some tricks of his trade as they get lost in mysterious tunnels, perform acrobatics and illusions at a wedding, and stay just a few steps ahead of Malaspina, who’s placed a bounty on Bec’s head. Short chapters keep the story moving, with narrow escapes, a dead body, and several bloody battles along the way, while family mysteries are untangled more gently. The characters speak in a casual, modern style, which occasionally distracts but overall reads well. Caparo’s beautifully detailed graphite pencil and digital illustrations add to the enjoyment.
Hold on to your tunic and truncheon in this action-filled adventure. (map, author interview) (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 30, 2024
ISBN: 9780889957237
Page Count: 314
Publisher: Red Deer Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
An outstanding new edition of this popular modern classic (Newbery Award, 1961), with an introduction by Zena Sutherland and...
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1990
ISBN: 0-395-53680-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A rich, enthralling historical mystery that engages and educates.
Siblings decode familial and wartime secrets in 1940 England.
Headstrong 14-year-old Lizzie Novis refuses to believe that her mother, a U.S. embassy clerk who was working in Poland, is dead. After fleeing from her grandmother—who’s attempting to bring her back to America—Lizzie locates her 19-year-old brother, Jakob, a Cambridge mathematician who’s stationed at the clandestine British intelligence site called Bletchley Park. Hiding from her grandmother’s estate steward, Lizzie becomes a messenger at Bletchley Park, ferrying letters across the grounds while Jakob attempts to both break the ciphers generated by the German Enigma machines and help his sister face the reality of their mother’s likely fate. With a suspicious MI5 agent inquiring about Mum and clues and codes piling up, the siblings, whose late father was “Polish Jewish British,” eventually decipher the truth. Shared narrative duties between the siblings effectively juxtapose the measured Jakob with the spirited Lizzie. Lizzie’s directness is repeatedly attributed to her being “half American,” which proves tiresome, but Jakob’s development from reserved to risk-tolerant provides welcome nuance. The authors introduce and carefully explain a variety of decoding methodologies, inspiring readers to attempt their own. A thoughtful and entertaining historical note identifies the key figures who appear in the book, such as Alan Turing, as well as the real-life bases for the fictional characters. Interspersed photos and images of ephemera help situate the narrative’s time period.
A rich, enthralling historical mystery that engages and educates. (Historical mystery. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9780593527542
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
PERSPECTIVES
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