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DARK TERROR

Name: DARK TERROR
Author: John Wilson
ISBN: 978-0-385-67832-2

by John Wilson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 25, 2015

A fascinating war tale that will have young readers digging in for a captivating read.

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In 1915, 15-year-old miner Alec Shorecross decides to leave the army and join the Royal Flying Corps but finds himself in an “underground war” instead, in Wilson’s second novel marking the centenary of World War I (Wings of War, 2014).

Caught in a rockfall in a copper mine in Coachman’s Cove, Newfoundland, Alec sees no future other than mining or fishing, so he joins the army. Soon, though, he decides that he wants to make a difference beyond just being a soldier. “My contribution is futile. What can one person do?” So, instead of being “another soldier among thousands,” he joins the Royal Flying Corps—but with no flying experience, he is assigned to the 169 Tunnelling Company in France, ironically leaving the mines of Canada to tunnel under the battlefields of the western front to set explosives under the German lines. Young readers might be familiar with trench warfare of World War I, but this part of the early war will likely be new and fascinating to them, and Wilson ably evokes the claustrophobic, dark terror of the underground war and the coming of age of young men amid the battles. A bit of a romance with a pretty Belgian nurse foreshadows her prominent role in Wilson’s next book about the Great War.

A fascinating war tale that will have young readers digging in for a captivating read. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-385-67832-2

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Doubleday Canada

Review Posted Online: April 14, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2015

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE RUINED CITY
by John Wilson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE THIRD ACT
by John Wilson

- BOOK REVIEW
A SOLDIER'S SKETCHBOOK
by John Wilson ; illustrated by R.H. Rabjohn

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THE SEVENTH MOST IMPORTANT THING

by Shelley Pearsall ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 8, 2015

Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

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Traumatized by his father’s recent death, a boy throws a brick at an old man who collects junk in his neighborhood and winds up on probation working for him.

Pearsall bases the book on a famed real work of folk art, the Throne of the Third Heaven, by James Hampton, a janitor who built his work in a garage in Washington, D.C., from bits of light bulbs, foil, mirrors, wood, bottles, coffee cans, and cardboard—the titular seven most important things. In late 1963, 13-year-old Arthur finds himself looking for junk for Mr. Hampton, who needs help with his artistic masterpiece, begun during World War II. The book focuses on redemption rather than art, as Hampton forgives the fictional Arthur for his crime, getting the boy to participate in his work at first reluctantly, later with love. Arthur struggles with his anger over his father’s death and his mother’s new boyfriend. Readers watch as Arthur transfers much of his love for his father to Mr. Hampton and accepts responsibility for saving the art when it becomes endangered. Written in a homespun style that reflects the simple components of the artwork, the story guides readers along with Arthur to an understanding of the most important things in life.

Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)