Customer Reviews

Black Duck

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How do you resist the siren call of a book when your co-workers (who are ALL children's librarians) are singing its praises yea unto the highest of heavens? Ah, "Black Duck". Winner of this year's least-enticing-cover award (at least from a child reader viewpoint), it's proof positive that Janet Taylor Lisle is back, baby! And the subject of her latest fascination? Rumrunners. By and large, I avoid historical fiction like it was the plague itself. But there's only so long that your average joe (average joe = me) can ignore a whole host of children's literature specialists who think a particular item is heaven on earth. And so I read "Black Duck" and found a rather nice book. I don't think I'm quite as taken with it as some folks out there, but I think I can safely say that when it comes to Prohibition Era children's books, Lisle's latest effort has more subtlety and sheer intelligence than pretty much any other title covering the same subject. You want your kids to be mindlessly amused? Give `em something light n' fluffy. You want them to be challenged and possibly haunted by the world's shifting morality? Black Duck `em.

David's almost a freshman in high school, but he's already figured out what he wants to do with his life. He wants to be a reporter. That means finding something to report on, and in a town like Newport there's not much for a kid to find. That is, until David uncovers an old time rumrunner by the name of Ruben Hart. At first, Hart is reluctant to divulge what he knows about the past. Yes, he heard of the infamous rumrunning vessel The Black Duck that was gunned down by a Coast Guard cutter. Beyond that, he won't say anything ... at first. As David and Ruben get to know one another better, however, the elder of the two begins to tell his tale. It's a story of living in a time of constant corruption and thievery. As a kid, Ruben and his best friend Jeddy were inseparable. Then they found a dead body on the beach and everything changed. With infinite skill, Lisle teases out a story the concerns itself with how one does what is "right" when "right" is no longer as clear as it once was.

One of the things I liked most about Lisle's writing was how she could take a small, almost incidental character like David, and with a minimum of words suddenly conjure up an entire backstory. Lisle has a talent for knowing exactly what words to use when. It doesn't hurt matters any that Lisle's language takes the cake. Sentences like, "It was the sort of spring night that makes you want to leap like a wild animal", or, "It must be a law of nature, David thinks, that when folks get old, everything around them ages too". Add in the factual information that's peppered throughout this narrative and you've got yourself one heckuva good book. Kids will read this thing and find themselves learning fact after fact without even realizing it. Lisle even includes an Author's Note with additional information on the real Black Duck and its fate. A Bibliography wouldn't have hurt any, but since this is fiction anyway I wouldn't insist upon it.

The focus of this book, its core, is based on the choices its characters make. I've never seen such an effective morality play for kids, to tell you the truth. Jeddy's father is the town's police chief, so his son sees the world as simply as possible. If you commit a crime you go to jail. End of story. As the book says, "Fog wasn't something Jeddy could deal with". For Ruben, it's far more difficult. To keep his job, his father is forced to assist in rumrunning. And then, of course, there are different kinds of rumrunners. There are the big mafia types from New York and Boston, and then there are the local boys like The Black Duck, who have the town's heart. How do you decide what is right and what is wrong when everybody is ignoring the rules? What does that do to you if you're a kid looking on?

I should point out that this is not a book for reluctant readers, by any means. The book begins slowly. So slowly, in fact, that I found myself having to push myself forward for about three or four chapters. Once you break that initial barrier, though, it gets easier. "Black Duck" may find itself a difficult sell to the child population. It's up to librarians to booktalk it beautifully and parents to encourage their kiddies with it. Tell `em it's about the criminal underworld, illegal hootch, and involves the hero getting kidnapped, shot at, and who pickpockets the dead. That'll get `em! It's definitely a worthwhile read and smart as a whip. It's not for everyone. Just the ones lucky enough to appreciate it.

A year ago three of my sixth graders wanted to read Black Duck, a new book in our school library, for Literature Circles. That was my first experience with the book. I started reading on my way home to Illinois and couldn't stop. Likewise, my sixth graders had a lot of praise for the mystery set in the Prohibition Era. If you parents or teachers are looking for a book that will motivate even the most unwilling reader, this is it. One of the boys confided that although he is a jock, he had to confess he couldn't stop reading it. At first some of the girls were resistant, but soon they, too, had to admit they were hooked. Telling the story in an interview is a unique format. This book also lends itself to a variety of research topics the students enjoyed: Prohibition, the Great Depression, the Roaring 20s, Women's Suffrage, politics, gangs, gansters, Rhode Island, the East Coast, and of course bootlegging and smuggling. What a great way to learn some history! I highly recommend it.

Ten years after the enactment of the Prohibition law, there occurred in the Narragansett Bay an incident that contributed to its repeal. The attack by a Coast Guard cutter of a legendary rum-running fishing boat called the Black Duck, which killed most of its crew. No one knows the details of that attack, but Janet Taylor Lisle draws upon the legend to present a gripping and plausible speculation.
The story is told in the present day to a young student journalist by an old man who was himself a boy when the events took place in the Summer of 1929, and who was intimately involved with the event. It is a story of betrayal, broken friendships, dangerous loyalties and ethical dilemmas. As one of the characters, the beautiful and adventurous daughter of the Chief of Police, says, "Sometimes I stop and wonder what's right ... And there isn't any answer, so I just go along. I guess, in the end, if you have to make a choice, you do what's best for the people you love." There is a moral ambiguity to the story that sets it apart from much of the literature of the genre and is, perhaps, one of its greatest strengths.
Yes, the Black Duck's crew was breaking the law, but on the North coasts bordering Canada, from Minnesota to Rhode Island, it was an accepted and often lauded activity. Most everybody in the small border towns profited from it and the police mostly looked the other way.
The old man, Reuben Hart who, as a boy, found a dead body washed up on the shore where he was looking for lobster pots with his best friend Jeddy.
The discovery of the well dressed body signaled a sea-change in the business of smuggling liquor, the arrival of the big gangs from Boston and New York and the end of the trade as a purely local enterprise. The inhabitants of the town were to be squeezed between the two rival mobs and the Coast Guard.
Sailing blithely between these forces was the Black Duck which, having been fitted with two World War One aircraft engines, escaped all dangers until that last fateful night when it met its doom.
The award winning author crafts a thrilling mystery that also deals with some important ethical issues in an historical context that is vividly and accurately presented. The characters are well developed and distinct and the action, told as two stories, one in the present and one in the 1920's, is compelling. The writing is vivid and compact. Taylor is a master of suspense. We know from the start what happened to the Black Duck; the mystery we unravel is how it happened and who was responsible.
Highly recommended.

Dead Bodies washing up on the beach, kidknapping, rummrunning, this book never has a dull moment! David, a freshamn in highschool, wants to be a writer. But, his dad wants him to work for the family landscape business. However, David is determined to get a job with the newspaper, so he goes to Ruben Hart. Ruben knows a thing or two about the "Black Duck," and this book is the spine-chilling interview between Ruben and David.

It all started when Jeddy McKenzie, Ruben's best friend, and Ruben are walking on a beach one day, and come upon a dead man's body. It was washed up, and there is a bullet hole in the man's neck. The boys run home, and call the shady deputy, because Jeddy's dad, the cheif of their small town's police force, is out of town. It takes awhile for Charlie to get to the scene, but when he does, the body is gone. They realize they are dealing with some serious men, because there are no marks on the sand, so somebody flew in, landed on the water, got the body, and flew out.

Ruben and Jeddy think it is rumrunners. They know its going on in their town, and the man had a siut and expensive watch on. However, nobody knows Ruben took the man's pipe and tobacco pouch out of the man's pocket...until later. Then one night, Ruben sneaks down to a harbor, and secretly watches an unload take place. It also happens to be off the famous "Black Duck," the fastest and sneakiest smuggling speedboat in the news. Outruns and outwits every coast guard cuttter everytime. David wants to tell Jeddy, but he just can't, and he knows that Jeddy would tell his dad, because Jeddy wants to be a cop, and he tells his dad everything, even thpugh Ruben doesn't think he should.

Thus, begins the seperation of Ruben and Jeddy. Tah major straw that breaks their friendship's back is when they go to see an old man named Tom Morrison, and ask him what he knows about whats been going on. He tells them of the airplane that came in that day, and that the dead man's name was Tony Mordello, a rich smuggler. He also said that all the men were looking for the ticket. Tony had paid for a whole shipment of liquor worth half a million dollars, and no one was ther to claim it. On the way home Jeddy said he had to tell his dad all that, and Ruben saud that he shouldn't. It put them in a huge fight, and from then on, Ruben and Jeddy are seperated. When Ruben went home that night he looked deeper into the tobacco pouch, and pulled out a rolled up half fifty dollar bill. He stashed it in his math book to flatten out. He though nothing of it until he talked to Billy.

Billy is the skipper of the "Black Duck," and he is into Marina McKenzie, Jeddy's older sister, and so is Ruben. Ruben meets him one time when visiting Tom, and Billy pulls him aside and says that all of the mobs are now after him because they heard he has the ticket. Billy says they are willing to kill for it. Ruben is still confused, and asked what exactly the ticket it. Billy tells him that this shipment is settled with a torn fifty dollar bill. Ruben s shocked, but keeps his cool and denies it. It is then that he and Marina become very close.

Marina keeps teling Ruben to be careful, and to wattch his bask, but he ignores her, and one night he gets kidknapped. He begins to realize how serious things really are. Thankfully, Marina has been watching him, and Billy and her, and a whole group rescue him. Later he realizes that his rescuers are the crew of the "Black Duck." One day at school, Ruben drops the bill out of his math book, and Jeddy gives it back to him. Now Jeddy kows.

In return for his saving, Billy asks Ruben to help on a smuggle job one night. But things go wrong, and the police are involved-on the wrong side of the law. When unexpected machine gun fire opens on the crew, and Ruben on board-what really happens. Did somebody tip off the cutter, is Mr. Mckenzie also involved bootlegging, and will the "Black Duck" escape this time, plus what ever happens to the beautiful Marina...Read "Black Duck" by Janet Taylor Lisle to find out.

This is a good book. It is an easy read, and although it rotated from being in modern day to present day, it is very easy to follow. It is a really good book, and I reccomend it to people who want a little history, but lots of action, and a little bit of love, in a novel. There are really no boring spots, and it all leads up the the dramatic ending. I liked this book a lot, amd the characters are easy to distinguish. The plot is good; it is well worth it.

Derek Fox

The Black Duck is a real page turner that keptme reading.This shows how a friendship that was so strong can end up in the end so bad and how a boat can be an inspiration. This historical fiction book is about Ruben and Jeddy, who are best friends find a naked leg on the beach. Then in the man's pocket is a half of a fifty dollar bill. They each don't no what that means. Ruben doesn't want to report it to the police, while Jeddy wants to turn it in. While this is happenig rum smuggling is taking place and Ruben wants to find out who did this. This is making there friendship go bad. This is a great book for people who like boats and action. I highley recommend getting this book.

I bought "Black Duck" based on the book's description and also based on all the great reviews it has received thus far. I loved the book the entire way through. "Black Duck" is geared for kids ages 9-12 according to the description with the main characters being teenage boys.

I enjoyed how the author intermixes the past with the present in "Black Duck" by making some chapters in the present day and other chapters in the past. Janet Taylor Lisle is able to bring to life what rum-running during the prohibition may have been like on the New England coast in 1929 by using a cast of fictional characters and how prohibition may have effected a community. The story is told through the eyes of Ruben Hart, who was a teenager during 1929.

Currently Ruben Hart is an elderly man. He is approached by a young boy named, David Peterson, whom wants to be a journalist when he grows up. Young David has his sights on writing a story about the the rum-running days and this is where he crosses paths with Ruben Hart. David is set on interviewing Mr. Hart about the rum-running days as he has heard that Mr. Hart knows something about those days. The interview happens over the summer vacation and David learns/hears quite a story from Mr. Hart & quite a tale it is. The two become friends by the end of the novel.

"Black Duck" is a good story with well developed characters!! The story is intriguing and keeps you wanting to know more about what will happen next!!

Oh, my Gosh! This is an awesome book. I actually found it by mishap as I was looking for a book to read with my students about the 1920s. It was perfect. The setting of book is the East coast during the heights of rum running. The characters in the book are well developed and in the end there are not really any super surprises but it was a success with my students. They couldn't wait to read everyday. There is plenty of opportunity to discuss critical thinking with the students especially why Jeddy decides to take it upon himself to follow in the footsteps of his father, the local police chief. I think it would be great if someone could make this into a film. For teachers, the beginning goes a bit slow but it picks up and actually become quite dramtic in the end. Great books if you want an alternate for middle school students to F.S. Fitzgerald regarding what it was like in the 20's during Prohibition.

This is a prime example of the fact that I will read just about anything. This book targets young readers, but this avid reader could not put it down. Although this book is historical fiction is deftly captures the distinct essence of a time period and place. The essence of the story is inspired by Prohibition, when liquor was illegal and there were many "rumrunners" smuggling liquor all the time for profit, and the Black Duck, a legendary rum-running boat that smuggled liquor in the shores of New England. Lisle has taken these events and from it, has made an action-packed story of the famous ship.

Uniquely, the author chose to write the story through a young man who interviews a man who was initially innocently (and then begins to feel at home) intertwined into the illegal activities of rum running. The book is written from the third person and first person perspective. In third person perspective is from the characters is interviewing another character who played in integral role in the book. The first person perspective is from the young man who was innocently intertwined into the illegal rum running activities.

In every chapter something that you're not expecting happens, and important information is often blocked off by dialogue between two main characters, making you want to know what happens. The characterizations, particularly those of the several characters who made unexpected, are organic choices that took the plot into unexpected, yet organic places.

Although the targeted audience was a young person, as an adult who is an avid ready, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. This book was recommended to me by a young friend of mine and is a perfect example that age has no boundaries for excellent literature.

Then a young teen, now an old man, Ruben Hart is the last living person who participated in the rum-running schemes of the tiny old Rhode Island town of Newport. And David Peterson is a freshman trying to earn a spot on the paper, who thinks that interviewing Mr. Hart about the consequences of the 21st amendment will be the ticket. Reluctant at first, the old man revealed his story.
It started out in the Prohibition Era with Ruben and Jeddy walking around collecting lobster pots, when they found a dead body who appeared to be a mobster who was double-crossed during a bootleg deal. When the police got there, the body was missing and that's when everything spiraled out of control. The Black Duck, the local rum-runner boat has been hiding from the law and involves pretty much the whole town in its schemes. The book has it all, the Mafia, alcohol smuggling, kidnapping, theft, murder, and even a little romance threaded through. You will find that it tries your sense of morality, teaches you about the Prohibition Era, and will be a great source of entertainment.
I would recommend the book to just about anyone who is old enough to understand. The plot twists and turns throughout the whole story, so it is hard to keep up with at times, and it has some foul language, therefore not suitable for younger readers. Though I would say that it is geared more toward a seventh to eighth grade audience, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It does slow down a bit in the middle, but by that point you're hooked, and you can't put it down. My favorite part is the ending because it takes the story from, "Great, a lot of people died," to "Awww... They lived happily ever after! "The historical fiction genre is not my cup of tea on any given day, but this book was so action-packed that it's almost impossible not to be at least impressed by Janet Taylor Lisle's enchanting story.

Purchased this book for my teen grandson and then decieded to read it when he was done. Learned a lot about 1929's and rum running which is the main part of the book. The Black Duck is a rum running boat. Worth the read.