The Last Voyage of the Misty Day [Hardcover]

Jackie French Koller (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up

Having reluctantly moved to Maine after her father's death in Manhattan, fourteen-year-old Denise forges a healing friendship with a boat owner surrounded by considerable mystery.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-- Upon investigating a light on nearby Little Hog Island, Denny finds a secretive elderly man who is restoring an old boat and strikes up a friendship with him. The timing is opportune, as she had been at odds with her mother since their move to Maine after her father's death. Grudgingly, the old man allows her to help refurbish the boat and begins to serve as a reluctant grandfather figure to the teenager. When a robbery lands him in the hospital, and the daughter who has been searching for him is located, it's revealed that ``Mr. Jones'' is running away from cancer surgery and dreams of taking the Misty Day to a spot in the Bermuda Triangle. With a friend's help, Denny sneaks him out of the hospital and he sails off to follow his dream. Koller's description of the work on the boat is nicely integrated into the story, but Denny's sudden outbursts and overblown emotional shifts, along with occasionally trite dialogue, may try readers' patience. And while the mystery of Mr. Jones's true identity will pull teens along, the fatal disease and escape from the hospital conclusion is an obvious one that has been done before. --Susan Knorr, Milwaukee Public Library -
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

The author of a carefully crafted, well-received novel about the Depression (Nothing to Fear, 1991) essays a less ambitious story about recently widowed Kathy and her daughter Denny, who have left N.Y.C. to make a new life on an island in Maine. Denny, a typical 14-year-old, can be believably obtuse and obnoxious when her dissatisfaction with their drafty, uncomfortable cabin, her scorn for her new classmates, or her own grief makes her forget Kathy's; still, the two have a strong, loving relationship. Together, they make friends with gruff ``Mr. Jones,'' a retired engineer who is fixing up the Misty Day on a nearby island. There's a hint of mystery here--could Jones possibly be the boat's earlier owner, who disappeared long ago in a storm? Or his ghost? Not so, it turns out; instead, he's working out the sad end of his own battle against cancer, a task to which Denny and new friend Spence bring dramatic help in the final scenes. There are some simplistic passages here, and the plot is predictable--a lost daughter turns up for a poignant farewell, Denny's growing esteem for erstwhile antagonist Spence parallels her acceptance of her new home, etc. Not the author's best, then, though wholesome and enjoyable. (Fiction. 10-14) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum (April 30, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068931731X
• ISBN-13: 978-0689317316
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,172,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars It was great!, July 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Last Voyage of the Misty Day (Hardcover)

The book was excellent! You have got to read it! It had an awsome plot and great characters in it! I loved the author and can't wait to read another one of her books!

5.0 out of 5 stars Great!, July 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Last Voyage of the Misty Day (Hardcover)

It was an awsome book that you've gotta read