Customer Reviews

The Black Canary

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Jane Curry's "The Black Canary," contrary to the view of the previous reviewer, is an engrossing read: my 13 year-old grandson went right through it (he quit "Harry Potter" V) and pronounced it "Good," which for him is the second-highest praise (first is reserved at the moment for the Artemis Fowl books). He especially liked the intriguing portal, through which James travels from contemporary London to the London of the Children of the Chapel Royal and the plots against Queen Elizabeth I, a portal which takes him to different points in both times, so that he has to arrange his final return to the present to precede the dramatic accident that placed him in the Thames in the winter of 1600. He also comes to feel responsible for helping one of his peers to save the boy's uncle from a coming purge of plotters against Queen Elizabeth, and figures out how to do this while still effecting his return "home."

Curry is clearly interested in the world of the Elizabethan theater--Ben Jonson and other documented figures connected with the child actors and singers are characters--and the complicated politics of the time. Young readers may not be specifically interested in early music or English history, but they'll likely remember the ambience of this book when they do come to read about the Elizabethan age or go to a Shakespeare play or an early music concert. The main characters--James and his rival/mentor in the company, Jack--are compellingly drawn, and minor characters such as James's parents (one black, one white--hence James's sobriquet as "The Black Canary" when he is pressed to sing for Queen Elizabeth) and the singing teacher, not to mention Ben Jonson, are vivid and memorable. The details of contemporary London vs. London in 1600 give a lively contrast for readers thinking about how people lived then and now.

I read quite a few young people's books because I vet them before sending them to my grandson (or he recommends books to me). We like books that are well written, with neat, surprising plots and interesting characters (other books we've liked are "Holes" and "Hoot," as well as Eion Colfer's Fowl series). Maybe not everyone in the school to which the other reviewer gave the book will "get" it, but those curious about other times or experiencing difficulty finding a grownup self out of the tangle of insecurities and sometimes resentments of early adolescence will enjoy it and learn from it. Also, I thought it was well written without being at all precious.

Nowadays kids are bombarded by shallow games, movies, and books. Anything deeper than a comic book is challenging to them. I have kids who won't read a book because it is too thick. And then I have READERS. And many of them are very smart kids. They come from different family backgrounds. And so to have a black protagonist in a challenging time-travel book is a GIFT. But I wouldn't bother to review the book or give it more than 2 stars if it didn't have the lovely historical detail. I think a kid needs to like reading to get this book or be older. I doubt if a knitting group would cast off with the Black Canary, but they'd enjoy themselves if they did. Isn't knitting what all the 20 somethings are doing now? It's not the old ladies. They're all on the internet writing book reviews.

The children's book, The Black Canary, is a lackluster book that took me to snoozeville. Jane Louise Curry did a good job of writing about a kid that time travels to the1600s; however, the book does not keep the interest of children. It seems that she is not writing for children, certainly not for young boys, but for a seniors' knitting club. She uses no action whatsoever. Every time I thought that something exciting was going to happen to the main character, James, it did not. The book also confused me. I had a very hard time trying to keep up with James' whereabouts. Each time I turned a page, he was politely walking somewhere new, not previously mentioned in the book. I do not consider myself an avid reader; therefore, when I pick up a book I want to be entertained. The Black Canary, though interesting, was laborious and not pleasurable. Nevertheless, I would highly recommend The Black Canary to a senior knitting club. I plead with parents not to buy this for their 12-year-old sons, unless they are looking for a form of cruel and unusual punishment.

Anyone who does not enjoy this lovely adventure of a young boy struggling to keep out of the grip of his musician family, or at least find his own music, has not sat at a window and daydreamed enough in his/her life! A compelling story with historical accuracy made palatable and fascinating, from dress of the period to what everyone ate at table, The Black Canary sings. A perfect book for the holidays for anyone, child or adult. Miss Curry's books take children's literature to another level, which, in this age of bite information, gives a child a bite he can chew.

With the attention-grabbing theme of time travel, Curry could have gone far into the literary cosmos with this text but instead the book runs out of fuel far short of where this plot could have ventured. She goes into long, rambling descriptions of incidential items and flash backs almost losing her young readers in wordy passages barely connected to preceeding thoughts. Curry could have done a better job with the main character's impressions of 17th century London. The author should have better expressed the differences in the character's life in two different worlds instead of describing rocks, curtains and feathers, etc.
I purchased this book as a donation for a school library. I hope the youngsters don't get lost in this book's outer space of disconnected words. Curry kept this canary in the cage.