The Pox party / taken from accounts by his own hand and other sundry sources; collected by Mr. M.T. Anderson of Boston.

The Pox Party is a story about the life of young Octavian who grew up in very unusual circumstances. Althought it wasn’t clear for some time in this story, Octavian was the son of a black slave in the mid to late eighteenth century America. I say Octavian’s life was unsusual, because the author M.T. Anderson sets the story in a colony of scientists that live communially near Boston, around the time of the Revolutionary War. Octavian was an experimental subject of the scientists who were testing to see if someone of Octavian’s race could be educated to a point similar to that of what was considered a superior white race.

As may be expected, with a novel about slavery and war, this story is filled with injustice and upheval at every turn. With the inclusion of the scientists and Octavians special circumstances this story has some very intersting twists and turns and it also leaves us with a very informative historical lesson about slavery and this tumutious part of America’s history. The language of the novel resembles the dialect of that period in time and may be difficult for some readers, but it lends an authentic touch to the story.

Anderson, M.T. (2006). The Pox party / taken from accounts by his own hand and other sundry sources; collected by Mr. M.T. Anderson of Boston. Cambridge, Mass.: Candlewick 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.

The Art of Keeping Cool / Janet Taylor Lisle

The Art of Keeping Cool by Janet Taylor Lisle is an intriguing piece of historical fiction from the point of view of a young teenaged boy. Robert moves with his mother to a small community on the eastern seaboard of the United States during the Second World War. Robert and his cousin Elliot spend their time listening to reports of the war, doing household chores and visiting a mysterious Germany artist who lives nearby. The family the boys live in also has to deal with the personal stresses of worrying about poverty, a father in the war and Germany subs bombing ships off the nearby coast.

Robert experiences concern over his fathers time flying bombing raids over Germany, his mother’s unwillingness to talk about his father, his Grandfathers dominate and often cruel nature and his suspicions about Abel the German artist who is widely thought to be a spy by almost everyone in the community except Elliot an artist himself. The story unveils the ugliness of human nature to be suspicious of what we don’t understand and to prey on the weaker members of our society. The story also deals with issues of family strife, abuse, and the lack of communication that often plagues dysfunctional families.

Lisle, Janet Taylor (2000) The Art Of Keeping Cool. New York: Athenum.