Customer Reviews

The Grave

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

 

 

Tom Mullen is a foster child in 1974 Liverpool, England. He becomes curious about the rumors of a mass grave found near his school. While exploring the grave, he falls into the open pit and is transported to Ireland during the Irish Potato famine. He befriends the Monaghan family after saving Tully's (the oldest son) life. The descriptions of the Monaghan family and the others suffering in the potato famine are vivid. Readers will become engrossed in this part of the story. One feels empathy for the family and the horrors they must face daily. Tom travels back and forth in time regularly and readers may find this confusing. Only at the end of the story will this constant travel make sense. Also, the book is full of British slang. Those that are unfamiliar with British slang may find some of the slang confusing. I would recommend this book to those that enjoy time travel and/or historical fiction.

The teen book club at the neighborhood branch of our city library system chose The Grave for the February book -- but I was the only one who showed up for the discussion!

What was the book about? Well, the construction of a new school is no secret, but something the builders find is. Tom and Brian decide to check it out. What they learn is extraordinary: the excavation site is a grave with hundreds of coffins! When a guard discovers the youths and comes running, they begin to flee the gruesome site, but Tom stumbles into the grave. The next thing he knows, he's flying through time back to 1847, back to the Irish Potato Famine.

Well written, suspenseful historical novel that teaches as it entertains.

~ JFS

The Grave by James Heneghan portrays a young foster child, Tom Mullen, who does not know his origins and his family. He starts out in an abandoned department store and throughout his life, he searches for his own identity. He travels back in time to 1847 Ireland where he learns about his origins and his identity. With this interesting plot, this book was both entertaining as was as literary. The Grave had a good blend of fiction and non-fiction to create beautifully written historical fiction. The book was a fast-paced book; the adventure starts from page one and the author wastes no time fluffing up the introduction. The events and characters seem real because of Heneghan's vivid characterization and description. Overall I would recommend this book to anyone who loves reading historical fiction as well as someone who loves to read suspense novels.

In the beginning things are a little confusing but as you continue it gets really ineresting. It starts with Tom Mullen. That's not his real name though. It's the name one of his "fozzies" gave him when he was young. He considers himself a loner but at the Two Peas (his new fozzy) its a bit difficult. There is another kid there, Brian, who is a little slow and totally dependant on Tom. Brian annoys Tom very much but later on he realizes he really likes him.
A new school is being put up but something delays the construstion and Tom drags Brian along to find out what it is. The discover a mass grave. The grave is what takes Tom back in time to the 1800's to help the Mohanagans. Tom even starts to like the daughter, Hannah. Now I won't ruin this book for anyone who hasn't read it yet, but it is a really good book.

I found this book to be amzingly well written and the characters were built carefully and slowly. I am 12 and found this book to be one of the best I've read! WONDERFUL BOOK! You'll never be able to put it down so quickly order it now and read the best book of your life!

Tom is a loner. He always has been- since he was abandoned in a department store when he was a year old. He's moved from foster home to foster home. The only constant has been Brian, an older mentally challenged boy who has moved from the last couple of foster homes with him. One night Tom (and Brian) go to the construction sight across from their school. Tom had felt a pull to the hole ever since they started working on it. The hole is surrounded by a tent and there is a night watch guard, but he MUST go to it. When he does, he is sucked into a world that will teach him so much about himself.

Heneghan mixes the story of Tom's life as a foster child with the story of his journeys in Ireland during the Irish Potato Famine in 1847. It is a good mix between the realistic fiction and historical fiction, although sometimes the jump from one to the other is unexpected. I do love that the book touches on two topics: foster care and the Irish Potato Famine.

good combtion of histrocal fiction and sicne fiction, time travel in one book. the stroy is good to your really feel from and understand tom.

The Grave is a novel about a foster child who goes back a few generations in the past where he meets his ancestors. Throughout the story, the protanganist comes back to the present day in between where we explore in depth who this boy really is. Also, there is a theme of trust that is shared between Tom (main character) and his look-alike who is obviously his ancestor (sorry if i ruined anything but i thought that it was pretty obvious if you think about it.

Although the plot leads to an obvious and predictable (even cliche) ending, it is still worth a read for readers who are interested in theses time travelling books.