13 Hangmen
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4.3 • 6 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
“Some people won’t believe any of this story. You might be one of them. But every single word is true. Tony DiMarco does catch a murderer, solve a mystery, and find a treasure—all in the first few days after he moves, unexpectedly, to 13 Hangmen’s Court in Boston. The fact that he also turns thirteen at the same time is not a coincidence.”
So begins the story of Tony and his friends—five 13-year-old boys, all of whom are living in the same house in the same attic bedroom but at different times in history! None are ghosts, all are flesh and blood, and somehow all have come together in the attic room, visible only to one another. And all are somehow linked to a murder, a mystery, and a treasure.
Praise for 13 Hangmen"Fascinating tale. Ghostly fun in old Boston."--Kirkus Reviews
"The book’s design nicely differentiates Tony’s story, set in 2009, from the past narratives. Recommend this engaging historical mystery to readers who devoured Dan Gutman’s Baseball Card Adventures series and are ready for a longer, more complex adventure."
--Booklist
"Corriveau merrily ransacks historical episodes and figures (e.g., the Great Molasses Flood, the Underground Railroad, Boston mayor John F. “Honey Fitz” Fitzgerald) and spins, twists, and manipulates their stories to advance the DiMarco family mystery. The result is a novel that agilely balances humor and tension."
--The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"This is an exceptionally good story, with a wry, humorous tone that has particular boy appeal. It covers baseball, history, sibling rivalry, girls, and mystery, and folds in the space-time continuum."
--School Library Journal
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Corriveau offers a fun and earnest tale of Boston history, time travel (of sorts), and dastardly doings that suffers from some inelegant storytelling decisions. Unassuming 13-year-old Tony DiMarco is always in the shadow of his older star athlete brothers. When his late uncle Angelo leaves his Boston house (at 13 Hangmen Court) to Tony (with the requirement that Tony sleep in his uncle's attic bedroom), the family happily moves in. When Tony's father is implicated in Uncle Angelo's death, Tony investigates with help from his uncle (as a 13-year-old boy) and other 13-year-olds who lived in that room in the past. Corriveau (How I, Nicky Flynn, Finally Get a Life ) ably uses the boys' tales to weave historical elements into his story, including cameos from Ted Williams and Paul Revere (an afterword discusses the liberties the author took). But the primary tale and its message about diversity often lack subtlety, and the villain (apparent very early on) resorts to a multipage revelation of his scheme, Scooby Doo style. History fans will still enjoy the tale, but may long for something more nuanced. Ages 8 12.
