Ghost Ship

February 26, 2007
Bestselling adult author Clark's debut children's book meshes two eras, each depicted by Minor (Lucky
) in finely detailed, light-infused paintings. Modern-day nine-year-old Thomas has grown up hearing his grandmother speak of Captain Hallett, who built her seaside Cape Cod home more than 300 years ago. One day, while beachcombing after a storm on the Cape, Thomas finds a belt buckle featuring the image of a ship, which in turn conjures a ghostlike boy dressed in 17th-century clothing. The ghostly boy introduces himself as Silas, a cabin boy on Hallett's ship, then explains that the lighthouse outside Thomas's grandmother's home did not exist in the days when Hallett sailed—and that he and his peers had to do some quick thinking to save the Captain from shipwreckers one night. Clark takes some of the wind out of Silas's sails when the boy pauses during the dramatic tale to explain some terms ("Sober light? I don't know what that means," says Thomas; "Perhaps you would say twilight... or... dusk.... What I mean is the time just before the sun is totally vanished in the sky," Silas replies). When Silas successfully thwarts the efforts of the "mooncussers" (aka shipwreckers), he earns the very belt buckle Thomas retrieved from the sand. Later, Thomas returns to his grandmother's house, where the tale comes neatly full circle: he gazes on a portrait of Hallett, who sports the buckle as the man's ship floats in the background. Ages 6-10.

April 1, 2007
Gr 1-3-While at his grandmother's Cape Cod home, Thomas finds an old belt buckle on the beach. He is then visited by a vision of a child named Silas, who once served as cabin boy to the very sea captain who owned the house. Silas tells Thomas how he and the other local boys once saved the captain's ship from mooncussersvillains who trick sailors by putting lanterns out on the beach to lead ships into shallow water and then steal their cargo. Silas and his friends set fire to the long stairs to the captain's house, so that he saw the house's outline and realized that he had been misled by the lanterns. Though the plot elements would seem thrilling enough-villainy, adventure, heroismthe telling of the story is wordy and meandering. Minor's paintings are atmospheric and fetching, but overall this book will appeal more to adults than to kids."Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2007
In her first children's book, a popular writer of adult thrillers and a familiar illustrator pair up to create a picture book that blends past and present. While visiting his grandmother in a 300-year-old house built by Andrew Hallett, a great sea captain, nine-year-old Thomas loves hearing the exciting stories of sailing ships that were sometimes wrecked on the rocks. One day after a heavy storm he finds an old belt buckle on the beach, and the ghost of Silas, the boy who owned the buckle in 1690, appears. Silas, who was Hallett's cabin boy, explains how he used a raging fire to save the captain's ship from the local mooncussers (thieves). The scenarios with the boys and Grandma are too idyllic, and kids may wonder how the fire was put out. The time-travel scenario is intriguing, however, as are the heroics, and children will like Minor's sturdy, richly colored artwork, which depicts raging fires, ghosts, and sun-dappled beaches with equal facility.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)