In the Night, on Lanvale Street [Hardcover]

Jane Leslie Conly (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 14, 2005

I'm afraid, but I can't call Mom or Dad, 'cause Jerry might wake up. If I try to tell Shannon, she puts a pillow over her head, 'cause she doesn't like to talk about Mr. Healy. She says remembering him makes her sad.
"Charlie," he whispers.
I'm afraid. In the dark night, I feel like I'm at sea, in that little boat Mr. Healy used to talk about. That's why I'm writing this down. If you're listening, I hope you'll listen close. I'm not making any of it up.
He whispers in my ear, "Watch out."

A new novel from a Newbery Honor author

Summer has just begun, and thirteen-year-old Charlie and her younger brother, Jerry, anticipate spending the lazy days roaming their working-class Baltimore neighborhood. That is, until Jim Chalmers, a strange man who used to live nearby, enlists their help in solving the murder of their neighbor Mr. Healy.

As Charlie learns more about Mr. Healy's death, she struggles to protect her innocent younger brother from the realities of gangs and drugs, and to help him make that difficult transition from childhood to adolescence.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 6-8–Thirteen-year-old Charlie and her seven-year-old brother, Jerry, live in the house built by her grandfather. Her father loves it even though the neighborhood has changed since his youth. Charlie and her family, nonetheless, are stunned when their next door neighbor is murdered. Mr. Healy was a friend and his home was a haven for an array of neighborhood kids. When Jim, one of the man's former boarders, involves Charlie and Jerry in identifying the killers, they find themselves enmeshed in a dangerous and altogether real mystery. Ultimately, the entire neighborhood is rocked by revenge killings, and the community is forced to take a hard look at itself. Characterizations are entirely plausible and memorable: Charlie's dad, who doesn't want to accept the changes that surround him; the boys who have become ensnared in drugs and violence but still show the occasional glimmers of connections to earlier times; and a host of secondary eccentrics who live on or around Lanvale Street. The city itself, presumably Baltimore, becomes a character, providing a gritty, sometimes unbearably brutal backdrop for this achingly realistic story. The staccato pace of Charlie's narrative is riveting, revealing the action as she lives it. Readers will have to accept, as Charlie comes to, that coping with death and violence is something that everyone does in a unique way, that change may be gradual and at great cost, but that it can–and will–happen.–Maria B. Salvadore, formerly at Washington DC Public Library
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About the Author

Jane Leslie Conly is the author of the critically acclaimed Trout Summer (an ALA Notable and Best Book for Young Adults). She is also the author of While No One Was Watching, a Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor Book, as well as the Newbery Honor book Crazy Lady!

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); First Edition edition (April 14, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805074643
• ISBN-13: 978-0805074642
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,344,924 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I was hooked by the characters and the story, May 19, 2005

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Nick-urban reader (Baltimore MD) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: In the Night, on Lanvale Street (Hardcover)

This book starts slowly, but by half way through I was so hooked I had to read on without a break. I felt I already knew Charlie, who tells the story, and I was fascinated by her obstinate (and intelligent) younger brother Jerry.
The book deals with friendship, secrets, morality, family discipline, mental illness and urban street life. It has strong, believable characters, and it allows the reader to make up his or her mind about who's right and who's wrong.
I also loved some of the dialog:
"I want to feel the dark against my skin". Jerry says, explaining why he wants to go outside at night.
The book builds up to a dramatic and scary climax, that will keep you involved, make you sad, and will give you a lot to think about.