Death in the Air / Shane Peacock

Death in the Air is story tale of a young Sherlock Holmes on his second case. Sherlock witnesses the fall of a trapeze artist in the very first paragraph of this mystery. Noticing some irregularities with the victim’s equipment Shelock begins an investigation to find out who would want to kill this daring acrobat and why. Shelrock finds himself embroiled in not only murder attempt, but a robbery and a race to save his mentor from lossing his home. Sherlock risks his life on many occassions to uncover evidence in this case, even though he ends physically or emotionally bruised.

Author Shane Peacock tells a riviting tale while at the same time developing the character we all know as Sherlock Holmes into the master dectective that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle created over 120 years ago. Peacock gives Holmes life as we see him struggle at developing his relationships with his mentor, his competators, his rivals and his love interest. We also learn about Holme’s great determinination to learn new skills that he will reqire to, become the best dectective in London and to achieve his ultimate goal - to rid the city of its criminal element.

Peacock, Shane (2009). Death in the Air: The boy Sherlock Holmes ; his 2nd case. Toronto: Tundra Books.

Valley of Death / Gloria Shurzynski & Alane Ferguson

Valley of Death is a page turner for teens. Olivia Landon gets more than the working vacation she bargins for when her daughter is mistaken for the Landon’s new foster child Leesa and is kidknapped. Olivia (a wildlife veteraniarian) has come to Death Valley National Park to find out why the park’s mountain goats are mysteriously dying when her family becomes embroiled in a dramatic hostage taking and standoff complete with helicopters, SWAT teams and automatic weapons. The story is told from the perspective of Jack Landon the 13 year old son of the Landons who has a hard time resisting becoming directly involved is the mission to rescue Ashley his 11 year old sister.

Authours Schurzynski and Ferguson provide a nice mix of the history and biology of Death Valley Naitonal Park in this mystery/thriller while also building a picture of a normal family that generously provides support for foster children in need. Leesa, however, is a mystery to Jack and Ashley, because their parents have not given them much information about her and she is not talking. The story is about a family that sometimes lives on the road which leads to an interesting lifestyle for their children who seem thrive on it and lead a relativelly normal life.

Shurzynski, Gloria & Ferguson, Alane (2008). Valley of death: a mystery in Death Valley National Park. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic Society.

Keturah & Lord Death / Martine Leavitt

Keturah & Lord Death is the tale of a young lady who gets lost in the woods for several days and meets Lord Death. Instead of taking Keturah the story teller to her inevitable conclusion, the handsom Lord Death falls in love with the charming girl and gives her a reprieve in exchange for a story. Lord Death allows Keturah to survive one more day in order to find her one true love and if she does she will survive her brush with Death. With the help of her friends and the magic of a local witch, Keturah scours the town in search of her one true love.

The story is in the form of a legend or fairy tale, but it deals with issues of love, death and friendship so it is appropriately classed as a young adult story. Martine Leavitt writes a complelling tale that questions what true love is and how frightenly attrachive death can appear The story may be more attractive to girls than it is to boys, but it is well written, dramatic and it has you guessing how it will end up to the last page.

Leavitt, Martine (2006). Keturah & Lord Death. Calgary: Red Deer Press.

The Great Death / John Smelcer

The Great Death is the story of a plague that struck American Indians in Alaska when Europeans first met them. The story details the horror witnessed by two young girls as their entire village dies a frightening death and they flee, fearing the great plague and afraid that they were the only ones left alive in the entire world. The story also details all of the dangers the girls faced as they wandered through the wilderness trying to find other people while trying to survive dangerous wildlife, cold rivers and freezing temperatures.

John Smelcer crafts a frightening picture of a diseased village dying around the girls. It is almost unimaginable the horror that the girls must have felt at the sight of dead and dying people and the doubt they must have felt at being able to survive the trip through the tough Alaskan wilderness. This story brings to life an event that is unheard of in our modern medical society, but it is certainly a startling historical eye opener for young adults and older listeners. It is appropriately narrated in a female and native sounding voice in what feels to be a traditional aboriginal story-telling.

Smelcer, John (Author) & Raver, Lorna (Narrator) (2009). The Great Death [Sound Recording]. New York: Listening Library.

Death and the Arrow / Chris Priestley

Death and the Arrow is a murder mystery set in 1715 London. Tom Marlowe is the 15 year old son of a printer befriends a young pickpocket named Will Piggot. Will is brutally murdered setting Tom on a mission to find the killer. Tom teams up with Dr. Harker, a friend of his father and they piece together clues to the mystery of various murders around the city with which Will was apparently involved. Each of the murder victims are found with Death and the Arrow cards on them and most have been shot with an arrow. And how do Mohocks fit into this story?

The London of 1715 is dark, dusty, crowded and rough. Schools are not a factor in Tom’s life, but his apprenticeship with his father as a printer has him delivering pamphlets all over the city. Tom has to be careful not to go down the wrong street or he would be in immediate danger. Chris Priestley the author describes a vivid picture of London in the early modern era and the difficulties it held for young people. Girlfriends and being popular are not so important in these times, but friendships and survival have great meaning.

Priestly, Chris (2006). Death and the Arrow. London: Corgi Books.

Death By Eggplant / Susan Heyboer O'Keefe

Death By Eggplant is the story of Bertram Hooks, a boy in grade eight with more than his share of problems. First of all, he is failing math and he has a bully in his class who mercilessly teases him. Thirdly, he really likes a girl in his class, but he doesn’t have the nerve to tell her and finally he wants to become a master chef, rather than an accountant like his father. Bertie can’t tell anyone about his secret cooking desire because he is sure no one would understand and he would be crucified by Dekker, the bully. When he is given a chance to pick up extra marks for math class he finds he has to care for a flour sack like a baby and things really get complicated, with his “crazy” mother, the girl he likes, Dekker who unfortunately gets a flour baby too, and Bertie’s secret desire to make muffins out of his baby.

Death By Eggplant is a fun book which weaves Bertie’s predicament into a good story which sounds realistic although highly unlikely. The author gives the main character several issues that he feels he has to solve by himself, but his main problem is simply telling other people about his troubles. If he did confide in someone, they might be able to help him with most of his problems.

O’Keefe, Susan Heyboer (2004). Death by Eggplant. New York: Roaring Brook Press.

Life of Pi / Yann Martel

Life of Pi is the story…no I should explain it as an adventure of a young Indian boy who finds himself moving from India to Canada with a ship load of his father’s zoo animals. Pi has an unusual interest in religion to the point that he starts practicing Hinduism, Christianity and the Muslim faith. This is not the most extraordinary thing about Pi’s life. When the ship travelling across the pacific with zoo animals and Pi’s family is midway between India and Midway it sinks with almost all hands lost except Pi and several zoo animals that end up in the life boat with Pi, including a 300 pound Bengal Tiger. The remainder of the book is about the 227 days that Pi survives on the pacific with the tiger.

Yann Martel weaves an incredible tale of Pi’s adventure of not only surviving two thirds of a year alone on a lifeboat in the pacific and the outstanding metal torment that entails, but he also explores the metal and emotional survival skills that one needs to survive such a situation. Martel examines Pi’s thoughts as he attempts to overcome the pain of the loss of his family, the cool headedness one needs to find food and resources to survive in a lifeboat for so long and the logic and intelligence needed to live with a Bengal Tiger only a few feet away. Some may not consider this a book for young adults, but I feel it is not too difficult for well read young people who don’t mind a good story.

Martel, Yann (2001). Life of Pi. Canada: Knopf.