Skip to main content

Curiosity

By
 Cover image for Curiosity
Curiosity
by Gary Blackwood
Penguin, 2014.  313 pgs.  Historical Fiction

     Many real characters and one real automaton inhabit the pages of Gary Blackwood's latest historical/mystery fiction title. Rufus Goodspeed is a chess prodigy and essentially an orphan.  His father, the Reverend Tobias Goodspeed is in debtor's prison with no means of freeing himself, and his mother is gone. Rufus sees a way to help himself and his father when he is offered the job of playing chess vicariously in the cabinet of the Turk, an actual historical automaton and sideshow figure in the mid-1800s who wowed observers with his chess-playing abilities even though someone hidden inside the Turk's cabinet was actually moving the pieces. His new employer stalls off paying him so that he cannot help his father in his time of greatest need, and he must constantly be on guard against anyone discovering his secret and exposing the Turk as a fraud, as Edgar Allan Poe seems intent on doing. Danger, romance, youthful brilliance and aged deceit fill these pages making a fine, if somewhat slow-moving historical story of an unusual time in American history. Kids who enjoyed The Invention of Hugo Cabret may take to this story as well.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Five Faves: Mysterious High-Low Intermediate Books

By
Intermediate Mystery books are a gold mine. High-low books refer to titles that are of high interest to readers, but contain low level vocabulary. These titles are clever, action-packed, and have several books in the series to keep the mystery alive. These intermediate mystery books are the first in their series and are sure to appease any mystery loving reader. The Ghost Tree Written by Natasha Deen Illustrated by Lissy Marlin New York: Random House Children's Books, 2022. Intermediate. 95 pages. With a dash of paranormal mixed with mystery, this book introduces Asim, a Guyanese American fourth grader who moves to a new town. After a visit to a graveyard, an evil spirit is unleashed. Asim works with new friends, Rokshar and Max, to save their town. With scarily cool illustrations to accompany this text, this book is great for any amateur sleuths who love a touch of creepy. Detective Duck: The Case of the Strange Splash Written by Henry Winkler and Lin Oliver Illustrated by Dan San
Post a Comment
Read more

Display: Dino-mite Reads

By
Goldilocks and the Three Dinosaurs By Mo Willems New York: Balzar + Bray, 2012. Picture Book. "Once upon a time, there were three hungry Dinosaurs: Papa Dinosaur, Mama Dinosaur . . . and a Dinosaur who happened to be visiting from Norway. One day--for no particular reason--they decided to tidy up their house, make the beds, and prepare pudding of varying temperatures. And then--for no particular reason--they decided to go . . . someplace else. They were definitely not setting a trap for some succulent, unsupervised little girl. Definitely not!" --Editor Smart Vs. Strong! Written by Jill Esbaum Illustrated by Miles Thompson New York: Simon Spotlight, 2021. Easy Reader. 64 pages. "When Thunder gets stuck in quicksand, Cluck uses his smarts to free his friend." --Editor How Dinosaurs Went Extinct Written by Ame Dyckman Illustrated by Jennifer Harney New York: Brown and Company, 2023. Picture Book. "When a child in a museum asks how dinosaurs became extinct, Dad co
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Enigma Girls

By
  The Enigma Girls By Candace Fleming New York: Scholastic Focus, 2024. Informational. 371 pages. If you have an interest in little known aspects of history or in World War II in particular, this book is for you. The Enigma Girls tells the story of 10 young women who worked at Station X at Bletchley Park in England helping to break ciphers during World War II. Each of the girls grew up in different circumstances, and thus, each worked at in a different part of Station X cracking codes. The reader learns about how Station X worked through the stories of each of the girls. Whether it was transcribing the Morse code messages that the Germans were sending to their armies or decoding, translating, or paraphrasing messages, each girl had a part to play. The stories of the girls are intermixed with plenty of photographs as well as special chapters about how to decode various types of ciphers. Learning about Station X through the eyes of the girls that worked there helps the reader gain a huma
Post a Comment
Read more