13 Hangmen

March 26, 2012
Corriveau offers a fun and earnest tale of Boston history, time travel (of sorts), and dastardly doings that suffers from some inelegant storytelling decisions. Unassuming 13-year-old Tony DiMarco is always in the shadow of his older star athlete brothers. When his late uncle Angelo leaves his Boston house (at 13 Hangmen Court) to Tony (with the requirement that Tony sleep in his uncle’s attic bedroom), the family happily moves in. When Tony’s father is implicated in Uncle Angelo’s death, Tony investigates with help from his uncle (as a 13-year-old boy) and other 13-year-olds who lived in that room in the past. Corriveau (How I, Nicky Flynn, Finally Get a Life ) ably uses the boys’ tales to weave historical elements into his story, including cameos from Ted Williams and Paul Revere (an afterword discusses the liberties the author took). But the primary tale and its message about diversity often lack subtlety, and the villain (apparent very early on) resorts to a multipage revelation of his scheme, Scooby Doo–style. History fans will still enjoy the tale, but may long for something more nuanced. Ages 8–12. Agent: Al Zuckerman, Writers House.

March 15, 2012
When Tony DiMarco's family moves from Ann Arbor, Mich., to Boston's North End, Tony finds himself in the middle of a mystery going back to the days of Paul Revere. Tony is about to turn 13 when the DiMarcos move into a town house at 13 Hangmen Court. His great-uncle, Zio Angelo, has died and left the house to the DiMarcos, oddly stipulating that Tony should get his attic bedroom. And it's in that attic room that Tony discovers a slate shelf above the bookcase with an odd spiral shape carved into its center, with a mysterious power to conjure people from the past. The novel's cover featuring a ghostly Red Sox player from the past suggests that this will be a baseball mystery, and readers may be disappointed when they realize it's not. Instead, it's a complex tale involving everything from Algonquin vision quests, Hermann Minkowski's "block universe" theory, the Great Molasses Flood of 1919, the Underground Railroad, gangsters, witch trials and Paul Revere. This abundance of historical detail is perhaps too weighty for the relatively modest mystery at the story's core. Readers who love history may look beyond the lure of the Red Sox mystery and find themselves happily immersed in the fascinating tale. Ghostly fun in old Boston. (historical note) (Fantasy. 9-14)

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September 1, 2012

Gr 5-8-Being 13 is strange enough, but Tony DiMarco is extra baffled when his great-uncle Angelo, whom he hardly knows, mails him legendary Red Sox player Ted Williams's original baseball cap on his 13th birthday, then promptly dies and bequeaths him an entire town house in Boston's North End. And that's just the beginning. A magic symbol in Tony's attic bedroom allows him to bend time and connect with his great-uncle as a 13-year-old... and with the boy who lived in the house before that... and before that. Before long, he's conjuring multiple generations of 13-year-olds, each from a different ethnic group reflecting a significant era in the North End's history. Together they must solve a mystery that spans the centuries, involving greed, blackmail, and murder. The fun is multi-layered, and the historical characters range from Ted Williams to Paul Revere to Mayor John "Honey" Fitzgerald, grandfather of JFK and early advocate of multiculturalism. The theme of tolerance among ethnic groups is recurring, but stops short of being didactic. This is an exceptionally good story, with a wry, humorous tone that has particular boy appeal. It covers baseball, history, sibling rivalry, girls, and mystery, and folds in the space-time continuum. An interesting addendum, entitled "What's Story, What's History," explains the historical basis for characters and events portrayed.-Emma Burkhart, Springside School, Philadelphia, PA

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2012
Grades 5-7 When Tony's family moves into the historic Boston house he has just inherited from his great-uncle Angelo, he discovers the magic of time travel, solves a murder mystery, and finds a storied treasure. Tony awakens in his attic bedroom on his thirteenth birthday to meet Angelo as a 13-year-old and several other boys who have awakened there on their thirteenth birthdays, including an escaped slave and an apprentice of Paul Revere. With their help, Tony recovers a hidden treasure and deals with the man whose family has threatened the house and its residents for more than three centuries. While the novel grows increasingly complex as Tony meets each boy, their personal stories add an unusual sense of historical depth. The book's design nicely differentiates Tony's story, set in 2009, from the past narratives, such as the account of Angelo's pivotal encounter with Ted Williams. A lengthy but quite readable author's note separates history from fiction. Recommend this engaging historical mystery to readers who devoured Dan Gutman's Baseball Card Adventures series and are ready for longer, more complex stories.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)