BLOSSOM CULP AND THE SLEEP OF DEATH [Library Binding]

Richard Peck (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1994

Teenage psychic Blossom Culp finds that her  powers of Second Sight are needed in both the past and  the present. Will she be able to help her  suffragette schoolteacher keep her job while also helping  a long-dead Egyptian princess regain her  tomb?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Contacted by the spirit of an ancient Egyptian princess, Peck's feisty heroine Blossom finds herself hurtled into a world of curses, tombs and a missing mummy. Ages 10-up.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 6 Up Good news for the Blossom Culp cult! Peck's feisty 14-year-old psychic returns for a fourth adventure, set, as always, in Bluff City, sometime around 1914. As in earlier installments of Blossom's antic autobiography, . . .the Sleep of Death incorporates elements of both the topical and the occult (women's suffrage and the lively spirit of an ancient Egyptian princess, respectively). Complications abound and Blossom, as usual, is culpable. And, yes, her unwilling accomplice is once again the fatuous but good looking Alexander Armsworth. Also returning are Blossom's chief antagonist, the dreaded Letty Shambaugh and her coterie of lesser nemeses, the Sunny Thoughts and Busy Fingers Sisterhood. There is no sting in . . .Death, but it does seem more contrived in terms of plot and weaker in its setting and use of period than earlier titles in this series. Nevertheless, it is an entertaining and generally well-crafted diversion with moments of inspired humor (the hapless Alexander's fraternity initiation rights) and abundant examples of Peck's gift for turning the humorous phrase ("I was jumpier than turtle parts in a pan"). Michael Cart, Beverly Hills Public Library
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Library Binding: 185 pages
• Publisher: Yearling (April 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440406765
• ISBN-13: 978-0440406761
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #740,020 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Richard Peck has written over twenty novels, and in the process has become one of America's most highly respected writers for young adults. A versatile writer, he is beloved by middle graders as well as young adults for his mysteries and coming-of-age novels. He now lives in New York City. In addition to writing, he spends a great deal of time traveling around the country attending speaking engagements at conferences, schools and libraries...Mr. Peck has won a number of major awards for the body of his work, including the Margaret A. Edwards Award from School Library Journal, the National Council of Teachers of English/ALAN Award, and the 1991 Medallion from the University of Southern Mississippi. Virtually every publication and association in the field of children s literature has recommended his books, including Mystery Writers of America which twice gave him their Edgar Allan Poe Award. Dial Books for Young Readers is honored to welcome Richard Peck to its list with Lost in Cyberspace and its sequel The Great Interactive Dream Machine...

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars AN EGYPTIAN QUEST THROUGH TIME AND SPACE, April 19, 1998

By 

Plume45 "kitka12345" (Westchester, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: BLOSSOM CULP AND THE SLEEP OF DEATH (Library Binding)

Blossom Culp is an unlikely heroine: living hand to mouth in dilapidated quarters, with a light-fingered mom who scrounges food and items to sell in the dead of night. But she is also one of the few freshmen at her school with ESP. Yet not even Blossom could have predicted that she would be chosen as the natural contact (medium) in this world and time for the spirit of a wronged Egyptian princess!

Blossom and her mom live (more like squat) in squalor on the wrong side of the tracks in a small town in 1914, when women did not have the Vote. Then a new History teacher sails into town and quickly gets both her class and their mothers into an uproar. And just what ancient secret was left hastily forgotten in an old traveling show tent? Does Alexander have what it takes to join a high school fraternity with dare-devil initiaion rites, while Blossom is ostracized by the girls? Clever plot and zippy dialogue combine to make this a fun read.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mummy Doom, January 7, 2004

A Kid's Review

This review is from: BLOSSOM CULP AND THE SLEEP OF DEATH (Library Binding)

This book starts when a new teacher comes and then this girl named Letty calls a meeting to get rid of her. In the middle of using a device used to call the spirits, Blossom calls a goddess. The goddess gives her a challenge to get her goods back to her or else she will be cursed. Can she survive this quest or will she be cursed. Find it out in this exciting book of mysteries. I recommend this book because it is very exciting and it refreshes you in the morning when your going to school because it will make you think and concentrate which will refresh you.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Improvement, but still no "Ghosts I Have Been"., August 2, 2003

By 

Rilchiam "Rilchiam" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blossom Culp and the Sleep of Death (Hardcover)

This is better than "Dreadful Future". Peck has restored the slow, exquisite, romantic tone of the first two installments, and the storyline is stronger, but it still doesn't rise to the level of GIHB.

I will say upfront that I adore Blossom. Her strong will, her practicality and resourcefulness make her a character that I'm frankly surprised doesn't get more press when people are recommending books for young women. But I wish there would be less emphasis on her interaction with Letty and her minions. It's really not worth her time to worry about such things in the first place, and her crude "revenge" schemes are beneath her. I liked the perspective she had in GIHB, when she observes that she could have taken over the Sunny Thoughts/Busy Fingers, but wasn't interested, because there was a wider world available to her. I like her better when she's doing her own thing and not getting drawn into petty power games.

Secondly, when is Alexander going to man up already? Every time something out of the ordinary happens, he starts whimpering and begging for mercy like a little girl. I could understand that in GIHB, when he was 13, but he's going on 15 by now, and it's about time he started showing a maturity level at least equal to Blossom's. If he doesn't, she should just forget about him.

And as far as that goes, I wasn't entirely satisfied with the resolution of that love triangle. Alexander glares at Blossom for "losing" the INB pin so he "couldn't give it to Letty"; meanwhile, she claims to see "relief in his eyes". Or, maybe she's just seeing what she wants to see. If it really is that way, Peck should have been less ambiguous and had him say, "Well, I was going to give it to you," and have Blossom's jaw hit the pavement.

I did like the suffragette teacher, and the third appearance of Old Man Leverette. But as far as that goes, where's Daisy-Rae? Okay, so maybe she didn't "work", but that underscores what I said about DF: it is best simply forgotten. Or, as Dorothy Parker said, thrown with great force.