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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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New York Times Bestseller

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REFUGEE

by Alan Gratz ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 25, 2017

Poignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense.

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Awards & Accolades

Likes

17

Our Verdict

GET IT

Google Rating

Kirkus Reviews'
Best Books Of 2017

New York Times Bestseller

Sydney Taylor Book Award Winner

In the midst of political turmoil, how do you escape the only country that you’ve ever known and navigate a new life? Parallel stories of three different middle school–aged refugees—Josef from Nazi Germany in 1938, Isabel from 1994 Cuba, and Mahmoud from 2015 Aleppo—eventually intertwine for maximum impact.

Three countries, three time periods, three brave protagonists. Yet these three refugee odysseys have so much in common. Each traverses a landscape ruled by a dictator and must balance freedom, family, and responsibility. Each initially leaves by boat, struggles between visibility and invisibility, copes with repeated obstacles and heart-wrenching loss, and gains resilience in the process. Each third-person narrative offers an accessible look at migration under duress, in which the behavior of familiar adults changes unpredictably, strangers exploit the vulnerabilities of transients, and circumstances seem driven by random luck. Mahmoud eventually concludes that visibility is best: “See us….Hear us. Help us.” With this book, Gratz accomplishes a feat that is nothing short of brilliant, offering a skillfully wrought narrative laced with global and intergenerational reverberations that signal hope for the future. Excellent for older middle grade and above in classrooms, book groups, and/or communities looking to increase empathy for new and existing arrivals from afar.

Poignant, respectful, and historically accurate while pulsating with emotional turmoil, adventure, and suspense. (maps, author’s note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)