The 13th Floor (Hardcover)

by Sid Fleischman (Author), Peter Sis (Illustrator) "The phone lit up and began to warble..." (more)
Key Phrases: laughing mermaid, thirteenth floor, birch broom, Captain Stebbins, Captain Crackstone, Abigail Parsons (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Hold on to your hats-there's never a dull moment when Fleischman (The Whipping Boy) is at the helm. A rollicking ride, this tale by the Newbery Medalist casts off into comic adventure with the young orphan Buddy, his lawyer sister, and a magical elevator that whisks them 300 years into the past. Fleischman deftly juggles several equally entertaining story lines, one involving a pirate ship and a hidden treasure, another focused on a 10-year-old girl accused of witchcraft in Puritan Boston, and a third revolving around Buddy and his sister's present-day struggle to pay off their recently deceased parents' debts and keep the family home. Liberally laced with dry wit and thoroughly satisfying-in Fleischman's world, villains always get their just deserts and endings are as happy as they are unexpected-readers could hardly ask for more. Ages 8-up.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6?Recently orphaned Buddy Stebbins, 12, is in the care of his sister, Liz, a young attorney. Faced with the prospect of selling the family home to pay off their parents' debts, Buddy calls on an ancestor, Captain Crackstone, rumored to be a pirate, for assistance. In response, a plea for help from the 17th century arrives from another descendant, Abigail Parsons, who is about to be tried for witchcraft at age 10. Independently, Buddy and Liz find their ways back to 1692 Massachussets to join forces with their forebears. This rollicking time-travel adventure requires a willing suspension of disbelief on the part of the characters as well as readers. Thrust into scenes of piracy and witchcraft hysteria respectively, Buddy and Liz experience the most dramatic and fascinating aspects of life at that time. Fleischman's characteristic flair for compelling action, lively dialogue, authentic details, and humorous elements are all present here, resulting in a thoroughly entertaining page turner. However, Buddy's 20th-century mannerisms and dress, including glow-in-the-dark shoelaces, are almost uniformly accepted after his initial appearance. Liz, for all her cleverness, foolishly refers to upcoming events in Salem, which casts suspicion of witchcraft upon her. Still, the rambunctious events aboard the ship and the tension of the trial will engage readers. The tidy ending is satisfying, containing enough irony to avoid predictability. An author's note eloquently and articulately explains the historical context of the setting.?Starr LaTronica, Berkeley Public Library, CA
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Greenwillow Books; First Edition edition (October 31, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688142168
• ISBN-13: 978-0688142162
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #914,954 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent! - An elevator brings them to another world!, June 21, 2000

By	Katy (Massachusetts, America) - See all my reviews

This book was a great book. Its about these two kids who find out there is a thirteenth floor on an old building. When they enter they find themselves fighting pirates and the boy finds himself trying his best to help his sister who has been accused of being a witch! This book always pushed me to turn the page. It is an easy reader but fun to read.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Triskaidekaphobia anyone?, February 24, 2005

By	Amanda Richards "Modest to the extreme" (Georgetown, Guyana) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The 13th Floor: A Ghost Story (Paperback)

Any superstitious person knows that the number 13 does nobody any good. Buildings don't have thirteenth floors, and nobody seats thirteen for dinner. Bakers however, have been known to prefer bad luck over the consequences of being caught short with the dough, but that's another story.

This book explores the popular plot of the mysterious floor between twelve and fourteen, and this time it's a portal to the bad old days of privateers and witch hunts.

Lured by a weird message on their answering machine, Buddy Stebbins and his older sister Liz make separate quantum leaps (via elevator) three hundred years into the past, and join their ancestors on a dangerous but funny adventure.

It's up to Buddy to find Liz, provide legal aid to his ancestors - an accused witch and a pirate Captain - and find a way back to the 13th floor, preferably with all their limbs intact. However, time is running out and the ship that houses the portal is about to sink.

A clever and fast moving time traveling tale, but not at all scary or ghostly.

Amanda Richards, February 24, 2005

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very good book!, February 19, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The 13th Floor: A Ghost Story (Paperback)

I liked this book because it is sort of a mystery and history book. This book is about two kids who owe money because their parents were poor and owed money but they died. When the kids, Bud and his older sister Liz, get a telephone message from a person who works on a 13th floor of a building, they think it is a prank. When his sister goes to work and doesn't come back, Bud thinks that she when to the 13th floor. When he opens the door to the 13th floor, he finds himself on a ship with an ancestor! Bud figures out that he traveled 300 years back in time! From there it goes on from Bud learning about a ship to Liz saving the ancestor who called them from accusement of witchcraft. I am not going to tell you the rest of the story. You are going to have to read it!!!