Customer Reviews

The Man Who Was Poe (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition)

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Edmund and Sis are alone. Their aunt has been gone for two days. Starving, Edmund goes to a local pub for food. Upon returning to his dreary Providence apartment, he finds that Sis is gone. Desperate, Edmund turns to anybody who can help. The only person who agrees to help is a stranger named Dupin. Who is Dupin? Can he be trusted? Where is Sis? Aunt? Read The Man Who Was Poe, by Avi to find out.

I liked this book because it's a combination of a murder mystery and a horror. I also liked this book because, living in Rhode Island, I can relate to it, having been to many of the places mentioned in this book. If you like a good thrill, this is the book for you!

The Man Who Was Poe is a historical mystery with Edgar Allan Poe as a character in this fictional novel by Avi. This novel might be classified as a puzzle mystery. The setting is early nineteenth-century Providence, Rhode Island. Edmund's mother is missing. His aunt went looking for her and now she's missing too. Edmund and his sister need food. Edmund goes out to get something for them to eat, but since Auntie told them not to leave, he locks Sis in the room; no one can get in, and Sis cannot get out. It's very important to Edmund to keep Sis safe. After helping an old man, Edmund goes back to the room, and now Sis has disappeared. This is the first puzzle. How could Sis have disappeared from a locked room when Edmund had the only key? Edmund gets help from Auguste Dupin who happens to really be Edgar Allan Poe. (Dupin is a character that Edgar Allan Poe created.) Dupin agrees to help Edmund if Edmund will deliver a message for him. Dupin (or is is really Poe) has his own issues and problems. He is a most difficult man to understand. As Dupin and Edmund form their uneasy alliance, they find that their lives are more entwined than either could imagine. Another puzzle catches the attention of Dupin. Gold bars are stolen from the bank vault that has been compared to a tomb. This was an impossible crime. The only way in was through a locked door; yet no one got in that way. Are the two locked room puzzles related? This is an excellent novel of murder, intrigue, danger, and suspense. As with all good mysteries, the reader discovers the clues along with Dupin and Edmund. Dupin and Edmund use their intelligence and keen observation as they seek the solution to the many mysteries contained in this novel. In the back of the book is a section called "Something About Edgar Allan Poe." Readers will find it helpful to read this before beginning the novel as aspects of Poe's life parallel the characters in the novel.

The Man Who Was Poe is a historical mystery with Edgar Allan Poe as a character in this fictional novel by Avi. This novel might be classified as a puzzle mystery. The setting is early nineteenth-century Providence, Rhode Island. Edmund's mother is missing. His aunt went looking for her and now she's missing too. Edmund and his sister need food. Edmund goes out to get something for them to eat, but since Auntie told them not to leave, he locks Sis in the room; no one can get in, and Sis cannot get out. It's very important to Edmund to keep Sis safe. After helping an old man, Edmund goes back to the room, and now Sis has disappeared. This is the first puzzle. How could Sis have disappeared from a locked room when Edmund had the only key? Edmund gets help from Auguste Dupin who happens to really be Edgar Allan Poe. (Dupin is a character that Edgar Allan Poe created.) Dupin agrees to help Edmund if Edmund will deliver a message for him. Dupin (or is is really Poe) has his own issues and problems. He is a most difficult man to understand. As Dupin and Edmund form their uneasy alliance, they find that their lives are more entwined than either could imagine. Another puzzle catches the attention of Dupin. Gold bars are stolen from the bank vault that has been compared to a tomb. This was an impossible crime. The only way in was through a locked door; yet no one got in that way. Are the two locked room puzzles related? This is an excellent novel of murder, intrigue, danger, and suspense. As with all good mysteries, the reader discovers the clues along with Dupin and Edmund. Dupin and Edmund use their intelligence and keen observation as they seek the solution to the many mysteries contained in this novel. In the back of the book is a section called "Something About Edgar Allan Poe." Readers will find it helpful to read this before beginning the novel as aspects of Poe's life parallel the characters in the novel.

I am nineteen now, but at the age of 11 I read this book and it was fabulous! It was a bit hard for me to understand at the time, but it was the first book I'd ever read cover-to-cover. I would recommend this book to any young adult! It is truly captivating!

I remember reading this book in middle-school and really enjoying it. Just the other day, and more than a decade later, I found my copy in a box of old books and on a nostalgic whim I grabbed it on my way out the door, for something to pass the time. I must say, to my surprise, I still really enjoyed it.

Avi weaves an interesting suspense mystery of interlocking storylines, complete with gothic settings of graveyards and foggy streets in 1848 Providence, Rhode Island. And of course, we have the master of letters himself, Edgar Allan Poe, as a central character. He grudgingly helps eleven-year-old Edmund search for his missing sister and mother, more for reasons of his own than sympathy, as in the young boy he sees a mirror of himself and the potential for a great story.

Poe, calling himself Auguste Dupin, his character from The Murders in the Rue Morgue (history's first detective story), is depicted by Avi as a genius whose soul has been broken. Grief and alcohol have warped his mind and sensibility, and he attempts the courting of a wealthy widow in order to find not only love but some degree of normalcy in his existence. Death follows him everywhere and he is prone to spouts of delusion, where his story and reality are at times difficult to discern. His mood shifts rapidly, mostly depending on drink, and his memory drifts on a tide of rum.

Poe is not a likable character, but he is the guiding force. Avi's Poe seems more based upon the smear campaign and forged letters of Rufus Wilmot Griswold that followed his death, which presented him as a wicked drunkard, though scholarly evidence to the contrary has long been the accepted truth. This can be disheartening to Poe lovers like me, but it does make for a unique character in a young adult novel. A year after the novel takes place Poe dies under questionable circumstances. Some have said alcohol was to blame, while others have denied that reason entirely, though it is true that his engagement to Sarah Helen Whitman was ended due, supposedly, to Poe's alcoholism and erratic behavior, so Avi isn't entirely off the mark with his Poe.

Readers shouldn't approach this work to learn who the true Poe was, but rather to experience a clever young-adult thriller that pays homage to his style.

I read this book when I was in middle school (I'm 25 now!), and I remeber LOVING it. I want to go back and read it again just to see if I still find it entertaining. Any kids out there thinking of picking up this book, please do! And look into the real works by Edgar Allen Poe, America's greatest author, although know that this book is 100% fiction.

This book was great! I loved the way Edmund's sister left "breadcrumbs" like in Hansel and Gretel. It was an exciting mystery, with clues everywhere, if you knew where to look.

I also liked how Avi combined fact and fiction, like how one of Poe's books had a detective called Dupin, and how Poe actually did have a drinking problem. It was very interesting.

I thought this book was great! The only thing though, was that it a really depressing book. I liked that it was mysterious and it made you want to keep reading more.Throughout the whole book I was wondering where all of the people were, AVI just talked about the characters and that made it seem more depressing.I really liked this book, it makes me want to read more of AVI's books.I gave this book four stars, because it was a book that I couldn't put down, but it's probably a book that I wouldn't buy.

Edmund finally decided to go out for food after Aunty didn't come back for two days when she was looking for his mother. He locked Sis, his sister, in the room they rented so no one could come in. When he came back, Sis was gone. Full of despair, he went to a bar and met Mr. Dupin, a troubled drunk writer who thinks Edmund's problem would be a good story, and convinces him to help him. Mr. Dupin has a very good idea of what happened by paying attention to details that most people miss. It is a great mystery and historical fiction book. It is full of suspense so no one can put it down!

Book Review for The Man Who Was Poe

The Man Who Was Poe by Avi, takes place in Providence, Rhode Island in 1848.The main character in the book, Edmund, has a family who was taken away by a man named Mr. Rachet. Mr. Rachet is Edmund's stepfather. Edmund's stepfather has stolen money from Edmund's mother and now wants a divorce from her. In addition, Mr. Rachet wants to steal money from the Providence Bank, and use Edmund's sister to accomplish this plan.

A man named Mr. Dupin, or Poe, helps Edmund try to figure out were his family is located. However, Edmund finds out that Dupin cares only about writing a story, and does not care about Edmund or his family. At the end of the book, Edmund has to take matters into his own hands to find his family.

My favorite scene in the book is the sailboat chase which takes place towards the end of the book. I liked this scene because it was an exciting chase. I also liked this scene because Mr. Dupin and Edmund hijack a boat to chase Mr. Rachet.

Although this book was interesting, I did not enjoy reading it because the plot was too confusing and often hard to follow. I would recommend this book to kids who like to read harder materials, and like mysteries. I give this book one star.

-Submitted by Harley Courts, grade 8