The Man In the Woods [Paperback]

Rosemary Wells (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up

When Helen witnesses a man's crime, she follows him into the woods, setting off a chain of frightening events. When the police arrest the wrong man, Helen becomes determined to solve the crime herself, despite everyone's warnings. Her own investigation leads to some amazing discoveries...and puts her in a lot of danger.

"A complex, dexterously handled story." -The Horn Book

"A humdinger of a teenage thriller...a page-turner from start to finish."-Booklist

Awards for The Man in the Woods:

A Child Study Children's Book Committee Children's Book of the Year

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141309725
• ISBN-13: 978-0141309729
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 4.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,070,160 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in New York City, Rosemary Wells grew up in a house "filled with books, dogs, and nineteenth-century music." Her childhood years were spent between her parents' home near Red Bank, New Jersey, and her grandmother's rambling stucco house on the Jersey Shore. Most of her sentimental memories, both good and bad, stem from that place and time. Her mother was a dancer in the Russian Ballet, and her father a playwright and actor. Mrs. Wells says, "Both my parents flooded me with books and stories. My grandmother took me on special trips to the theater and museums in New York. "Rosemary Wells's career as an author and illustrator spans more than 30 years and 60 books. She has won numerous awards, and has given readers such unforgettable characters as Max and Ruby, Noisy Nora, and Yoko. She has also given Mother Goose new life in two enormous, definitive editions, published by Candlewick. Wells wrote and illustrated Unfortunately Harriet, her first book with Dial, in 1972. One year later she wrote the popular Noisy Nora. "The children and our home life have inspired, in part, many of my books. Our West Highland white terrier, Angus, had the shape and expressions to become Benjamin and Tulip, Timothy, and all the other animals I have made up for my stories." Her daughters Victoria and Beezoo were constant inspirations, especially for the now famous "Max" board book series. "Simple incidents from childhood are universal," Wells says. "The dynamics between older and younger siblings are common to all families."But not all of Wells' ideas come from within the family circle. Many times when speaking, Mrs. Wells is asked where her ideas come from. She usually answers, "It's a writer's job to have ideas." Sometimes an idea comes from something she reads or hears about, as in the case of her recent book, Mary on Horseback, a story based on the life of Mary Breckenridge, who founded the Frontier Nursing Service. Timothy Goes to School was based on an incident in which her daughter was teased for wearing the wrong clothes to a Christmas concert. Her dogs, west highland terriers, Lucy and Snowy, work their way into her drawings in expression and body position. She admits, "I put into my books all of the things I remember. I am an accomplished eavesdropper in restaurants, trains, and gatherings of any kind. These remembrances are jumbled up and changed because fiction is always more palatable than truth. Memories become more true as they are honed and whittled into characters and stories."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Review, February 21, 2006

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Man in the Woods (School & Library Binding)

Helen witnessed a car accident. She saw someone from the woods throw a rock at a car and she wants to find out who it was. Her and a friend, Pinky Levy help the injured woman in the car and her daughter. Soon after the accident Helen follows someone into the woods and is afraid that he saw her. She is being stalked and she desperately wants to find out who the person in the woods was because she thinks that the police have captured the wrong man. She uses the paper at her school that she works for as a cover to do some research. She finds that a tip-off note was typed on a typewriter so old that it was never even recorded in history. She finds out about someone who had the typewriter, also called a Thurber but some things like a delirious relative make it hard for Helen to come to any conclusions. She works very hard and even though she has embarrassed her family she knows that she is on to something. No one will believe a word she says though, no one but Pinky. He is the only help that Helen has and eventually finds that Stubby Atlas, the man the police took into custody as the man throwing rocks at cars or the "punk rock thrower", is the guilty man. He had worked for Perry and Crowe over the summer, a company that packed the UPS trucks that Stubby was aiming for. At the end Helen and Pinky find that Barry de Wolf, a senior at their school and a worker on the Whaler, their school paper, was involved in drug selling and sold to people that were connected to Stubby. They both ended up in jail. I think this is a very good book because it gives you hints like you were a forensic scientist trying to figure it out for yourself. This book is interesting in many ways. I recommend it to all readers

This book is interesting because it uses a history reference with the Thurber. The Thurber was apparently used not only as a typewriter but was one of the first Braille machines. That is how Helen found out who owned the Thurber, Lucy, the woman who had it, had a blind husband. While they are researching for the Thurber they relate many things to the civil war.
Also, it gives you the clues as you are going along as if you were going to solve the mystery yourself. The song that the man in the woods was humming was also the song that the Hummel statue, a statue Helen had to draw for the Whaler, played.
Finally this book is interesting how it uses songs to relate to things, even if they are stalking. The person stalking Helen sent her a message with lines from "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" warning her that "he sees her while she's sleeping" and "that she better watch out".
I think that all readers would enjoy this book and that it is a very well written mystery with very interesting features.


T. Shene

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great plot not just for the YA crowd, June 30, 2005

By 

Crunchy Marvel "no super hero" (Panama City, Panama) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Man in the Woods (School & Library Binding)

I read this book in my teens and it became one of my favorites. The plot is awesome full of suspense and a bit of history thrown in.

I am 28 now and I still recommend it to everyone looking for a great read.

I even dare to say that it is lite 'da vinci code'. You want to read this one, dont miss it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Man in The Woods is a very exciting, suspensful book, October 16, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Man In the Woods (Paperback)

"He sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when you're awake...oh you better watch out..." This is all Helen Curragh thought about when a man in the woods began to stalk her. Her mother had died when Helen was young, and all she had left of her mother was a locket with her picture in it. She lost it in the woods, but mysteriously, it got delivered to her home. Helen opened the locket and found her mother's picture defaced. Someone... The Man in The Woods, began to send her threats through the mail, and now, Helen was scared.

Then, a car "accident", or was it? On a quiet road in New Bedford. Usually it was a vacant road with deer crossing through it. A big rock had been thrown from nowhere, just missing Helen, and hitting a lost car's window. A pregnant mother and her 2 children were badly injured. Helen, angered with rage, ran across the trees and bushes, looking for the person who threw the rock ... The Man in the Woods.

This book will make your blood boil with excitement. For everyone who loves thrillers, this is a perfect book for you.