The Mary Celeste: An Unsolved Mystery from History

Book Description

The Mary Celeste was discovered adrift on the open sea by another ship in 1872 -- with no sign of captain or crew. What happened? Did the crew mutiny? Were they attacked by pirates? Caught in a storm? No one ever found out.

Inside this book are the clues that were left behind and the theories of what people think happened aboard that ship. Become a detective, study the clues, and see if you can help solve this chilling mystery from history.

Customer Reviews:

Children's Picture Book Retelling of History's Original Ghost Ship.......2007-06-19

Alcohol Fumes? Mutiny? Illness? Pirates? What caused the captain, his wife and child as well as the seven crew members to suddenly abandon the "Mary Celeste"? And where did these ten people who were never seen or heard from again end their lives? This picture book does a good quick job of explaining the mystery of the ship that started from New York in 1872 and was found as a "ghost ship" less than three weeks later about 600 miles from Portugal. The authors encourage young readers to come to their own conclusion about what happened though they include and explain a bit about the six most popular theories. Great book for young detectives who love history.

Mystery Remains Unsolved (Naturally), but Very Well Done and Intriguing for Young Readers!.......2007-01-30

Children's detective stories seem to be perpetually "in," The Mary Celeste: An Untold Mystery from History plays on that theme successfully. Without giving us a name, the author introduces us to the narrator, a young girl who is curious...a trait that every detective needs! This young lady isn't curious about just anything, she's particularly curious about her fathers file of mysteries that have never been solved..."histories mysteries." The narrator then goes on to detail her "process" for trying to figure out the given mystery...first she reads as much as she can about the incident, learning everything she can, and she keeps a notebook of the most important clues and information. Sometimes she even includes maps and timelines!! This particular "case" focuses on the Mary Celeste a ship whose crew disappeared on the high seas more than 120 years ago.

With that bit out of the way, the book transforms into a fact filled narrative of the events, starting with the discovery of the Mary Celeste abandoned on open water by the captain and crew of the Del Gratia. We follow the crew through searching the ship (quite a detailed account, including showing that there was food for 6 months stored carefully and that all their belongings were left on board), reporting back to the Del Gratia's captain with their findings; the decision to tow the Mary Celeste back to port for salvage; and a summary of six of the most popular theories about what became of the crew of the Mary Celeste. This final section is done in the notebook style, and the narrator has included questions for the reader to answer, which if answered, will help the reader figure out which of the theories is most likely...at the very least, it's an excellent opportunity for a class project (dividing students up into groups and each exploring a given theory and presenting to the class, with discussion at the end on which of the theories are most likely...and maybe even encouraging students to come up with their own theories!). The story ends with the narrator saying she's really not sure WHICH theory is right...but she's got her own and now she hopes you (the reader) do too.

Each two page spread is given a narrative box and most include "post-it" style pink and yellow boxes which define terms used in the narrative box and most include a cut out of a spiral notebook which is meant to be the narrator taking her notes...which provides additional information and/or perspective on the information given in the narrative box. I love the section on the theories...the way they are presented with questions that the reader should be able to answer directly out of the text and/or with minimal additional research. I really do think this would make an excellent group project for a classroom, or the jumping off point for a written report by a single student...or just interesting reading!! I'd say this book is idea for kids ages 4-10, as a real aloud to about age 6, older kids will enjoy reading this alone...the text is EASY...but the opportunity for exploring the theories and doing additional research is what I think makes it suitable for readers 8-10. I give it five stars and think it would make a fine addition to any classroom or school library. I love the format; it presents the necessary information (and definitions) on the page (without flipping back and forth to a glossary) in a way that doesn't detract from the narrative or the illustrations. There is a bibliography, but it's located in the front of the book, just before the title page, rather than in the back. Pick this up for your curious young reader, you won't be disappointed!

A great book.......2002-03-12

The "Mary Celeste" was a trading vessel found adrift in the 19th century. The crew was missing and there was no apparent reason found or note made in the log to explain what had occurred. To this day there is still no answer to this mystery.

This book by Jane Yolen is a terrific introduction to the mystery that is a fun read for children and adults. It is designed to be thought provoking and to encourage kids to use critical thinking. All of the different theories about the ship are presented and the reader can draw his or her own conclusions.

It is highly recommended.

Questions and theories to explore.......2000-02-28

What a fascinating and thought provoking story! The Mary Celeste was found abandoned over 100 years ago leaving a multitude of still unanswered questions. The story engages students and leads them to propose theories of their own. Hopefully Jane Yolen and her daughter will write many more "unsolved mysteries from history"!

The Best on the Mary Celeste.......2000-02-17

As a decendant of Captian Briggs' family, I am very familiar with the details surrounding this mysterious event! Jane Yolen does a wonderful job of organizing and distilling all the information that is available and making it accessable to children (my own children thank the author, this story makes more sense to them now!). In addition, I am going to buy it for several adult members of our family. A wonderful job, terrific format, very readable... Thank you!

Mayflower Treasure Hunt: A to Z Mysteries Super Edition 2 (A Stepping Stone Book(TM))

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Mayflower Treasure Hunt: A to Z Mysteries Super Edition 2 (A Stepping Stone Book(TM))
Ron Roy
Manufacturer: Random House Books for Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0375839372
Release Date: 2007-08-28

Book Description

DINK, JOSH, AND RUTH ROSE are spending Thanksgiving in Plymouth, Massachusetts. They can't wait to see the sights and have a Thanksgiving dinner just like the Pilgrims would have eaten. Then the kids learn about a sapphire necklace that went missing on the real Mayflower. Could the 400-year-old treasure be hidden somewhere nearby? This exciting extension to the A to Z Mysteries chapter book series features more pages, favorit characters, a more complex plot, and a 26-letter message hidden in the art.

The Salem Witch Trials: An Unsolved Mystery from History

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An investigative approach for young readers exploring the Salem Witch Trials

The Salem Witch Trials: An Unsolved Mystery from History
Jane Yolen , and Heidi Elisabet Y Stemple
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0689846207

Book Description

In 1692 Salem, Massachusetts, witnessed one of the saddest and most inexplicable chapters in American history.

When a group of girls came down with a horrible, mysterious bout of illness, the town doctor looked in his medical books but failed to find a reasonable diagnosis. Pretty soon everyone in town was saying the same thing: The girls were ill because they were under a spell, the spell of witchcraft! And still, the question remains: Why did the hysteria occur? The townspeople had many things to worry about back then: smallpox, strife with the local Indians, a preacher demanding higher wages, and the division of land in the community. But did all of those problems justify a witch hunt?

Become a detective as you read this true story, study the clues, and try to understand the hysteria! The Unsolved Mystery from History series is written by acclaimed author Jane Yolen and former private investigator Heidi Elisabet Yolen Stemple. This is an innovative history lesson that's sure to keep kids thinking throughout.

Customer Reviews:

An investigative approach for young readers exploring the Salem Witch Trials.......2007-07-21

I picked this book up at my local library, keen to know how the authors and illustrator approached a dark theme in our history catering to younger readers [Grades 3-6]. I was pleased with the approach as though it doesn't provide comprehensive details on the events surrounding the Salem Witch Trials, it does have a unique approach.

The illustrations are done in somber hues, which enhance the bleakness of the period in which the events occur. There are boxed texts explaining how the witch trials unfolded, and difficult phrases or words are explained, also in boxed text.

What I liked about the book was its investigative approach. The reader is given a set of leading and thought-provoking questions at the end of the book which are meant to help the reader come to his/her own conclusions about the true origins of the historical event. A possible set of hypotheses are provided for us to ponder over, and the questions are simple [as they are aimed at a younger audience], yet thought-provoking.

All in all, this is a refreshing approach to a significant event in US history, simply written and beautifully illustrated.

A Killing at Ball's Bluff (Harrison Raines Civil War Mysteries, Book 2)

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A Little Long Winded, But Still a Great Mystery
Plodding, implausible and mundanely written
Teriffic historicalmystery

A Killing at Ball's Bluff (Harrison Raines Civil War Mysteries, Book 2)
Michael Kilian
Manufacturer: Berkley Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0425178048
Release Date: 2001-01-09

Amazon.com

Michael Kilian has set an interesting goal for himself: to chronologically place Virginia gentleman and secret Pinkerton agent Harrison "Harry" Raines in the thick of every major battle of the Civil War and, once there, have him solve a mystery connected thereto. After Harry's fine debut in Murder at Manassas, A Killing at Ball's Bluff sees Harry assigned by the fledgling Secret Service to safeguard the life of Abraham Lincoln's best friend, Col. Edward Baker. But Baker, for reasons unknown, foolishly toys with mortal danger and not surprisingly stops a bullet. As Harry watches in horror from a short remove, a Southern officer appears from the mist, spurring headlong toward the fallen Baker.

Harry loosed a shot, but it was hasty and went wide, even though the mount and rider now seemed to tower over him. The officer yanked the animal to a sudden stop and, ignoring Harry, leaned down over Baker, his horse's chest almost in Harry's face.
There were five quick gunshots from the Confederate's weapon, and then the white horse and rider leaped and dashed away. Harry flung himself down to Baker's side--far, far too late. Every one of the five shots had found its mark. The president's friend was as dead as any man on that field.

This was not war, this was murder--but tell that to the marines. After all, Raines is a Southerner, an intimate of the infamous Southern spy, Rose Greenhow, the son of a plantation-owning slaveholder, and the brother of two Southern officers. And he lives at the National, the Washington hotel favored by secessionists. If you've guessed that, given these tidbits, Raines's Northern handlers are soon smiting their foreheads, yelling "Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" you've guessed right. Harry's become a man without a country, wanted by both the North and the South, and it's up to him to solve Baker's murder or suffer the inevitable consequences.

Kilian guides his hero with much skill and ample wit. Major characters are finely limned, dialogue is lively and crisp, battle scenes are as engaging as they are truly frightening. It's a sure thing for John Jakes regulars, historical fans, and Civil War subgenre aficionados--and anyone else who likes their mysteries with a heavy dose of thrills. --Michael Hudson

Book Description

The acclaimed Civil War series that "successfully combines the genre of historical novel and murder mystery."

-Booklist

A mystery series with "a promising notion" (Kirkus Reviews), the Harrison Raines novels follow the Civil War battle by battle-and crime after crime. The second novel takes place at Ball's Bluff, outside of Leesburg, Virginia. A Union Colonel has been murdered, and Harrison Raines must cross Union and Confederate lines to find the culprit-and clear his own name.

Customer Reviews:

A Little Long Winded, But Still a Great Mystery.......2002-11-12

Harry Raines is finding life in Washington during the Civil War difficult. A Southerner opposed to slavery, he tries to stay as neutral as possible, even with his new job in the Secret Service. But trouble seems to find him. Someone's shooting at him on the street. Then he's assigned to guard Colonel Edward Baker, one of President Lincoln's best friends. This is a nearly impossible task in the midst of battle, but when the Colonel is killed in cold blood, Harry finds himself accused of the crime. Escaping from jail, he must stay one step ahead of his former co-workers to clear his name.

This novel, like its predecessor, provides a fascinating look at life during the Civil War. Real people are liberally sprinkled throughout, and I greatly enjoyed meeting their fictitious personas. I especially like the way Lincoln is portrayed in his few appearances. The fictitious characters are interesting as well. The plot itself seems to loose its way at times, but all the pieces to come together for a climax that includes some interesting twists.

With the characters being agents and counter-agents, the book takes on the feel of a spy novel at times. Yet, the plot includes enough interesting twists to make it a good mystery as well. Anyone interested in this time period will greatly enjoy this series.

Plodding, implausible and mundanely written.......2001-07-21

The plot of this historical mystery lurches from one improbable point to the next: Confederate women in drag, badly characterized famous people from Lincoln to Rose Greenhow to Oliver Wendell Holmes, and dei ex machinae up the wazoo. Timing and pace here are severely flawed, leaving the reader wondering what just happened and why it matters. The "who did it", when we find it out, is too obvious. Yet characters' behavior and motivations, throughout, are not well founded. The essential theme, that of the Southern Unionist (described by the author as "neutral", inexplicably) who works as a secret agent for the North and whose loyalties are torn, is an interesting one, but it's not enough to keep this rusty ironclad afloat.

Teriffic historicalmystery.......2001-01-09

In 1861, the initial encounter of the Civil War is fired at Fort Sumter and the South wins the first real encounter at Manassas. Harrison Raines, son of a Virginia plantation landholder who owns slaves, broke with his family and now resides in the federally controlled Washington DC. Area. In order to prove his loyalty to the northern cause and his anathema towards slavery, Harry allows Pinkerton to induct him as a captain in the newly formed Secret Service.

Few know what Harry does for a living as he acts as if he is a southern sympathizer. When he is almost killed, Harry retreats to his horse farm to wait safely for further instructions, which comes from his friend Templeton Saylor. Harry must go to Ball's Bluff to guard Colonel Baker, who dies anyway in the heat of battle. Harry is accused of treason and jailed, but escapes. He knows he is a man without a country neither the Union nor the Confederacy wanting him unless he can prove his innocence or guilt.

Although this novel is labeled a "Harrison Raines Civil War Mystery," the tale is really more a spy thriller than a who-done-it, though detective elements are in the tale. The plot contains agents, double agents, traitors, and an assortment of support cast abetting the spies. Actions run the gamut with dishonor not uncommon. Michael Kilian's novel contain some of the most fascinating war drama scenes, vividly and authentically described so that the audience can picture Spielberg saving Harry Raines.

Book Description

This fascinating journey takes us from prehistoric times through the Ice Age and beyond.

Nabbed! The 1925 Journal of G. Codd Fitzmorgan (Crime Through Time, No. 2)

Average customer rating:

Great book for getting kids into history
Mystery with a Touch of History
WONDERFUL!!!
Great for Mystery Genre Study!
Better than the "Magic Treehouse" Series!

Nabbed! The 1925 Journal of G. Codd Fitzmorgan (Crime Through Time, No. 2)
Bill Doyle
Manufacturer: Little, Brown Young Readers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0316057371

Book Description

Each book in the Crime Through Time series is hosted by a different child member of the famous Fitzmorgan detective family. While the young sleuth unravels a fictional mystery, readers learn about the real historical setting and actual crime-solving methods from the different eras. In sidebar activities, readers take on the role of assistant, helping to crack the case. Breathtakingly suspenseful but never violent and always age-appropriate, the books read like private investigative journals, with photos, maps, news clippings and crime scene sketches.G. Codd Fitzmorgan arrives at a storm-battered mansion for a party. But more than an engagement celebration seems to be afoot, as our detective unravels a mystery involving a s#142;ance, a reckless aviator, and sale of liquor banned under Prohibition.

Customer Reviews:

Great book for getting kids into history.......2006-11-24

One of the things I love about this series is the newspaper at the end. In "Nabbed!" there's a 1925 edition of "The INspector" newspaper that puts the events of the book into context. There are articles about Al Capone, the Scopes trial, Houdini, and even some 1920s lingo. Even as an adult, I found it really entertaining! And the book itself is fantastic - how could a story about a ghost plane and a scary mansion with hidden passages NOT be?!?

Mystery with a Touch of History.......2006-05-18

We purchased Nabbed! and Swindled! for our nephews based on some glowing recommendations from friends. The boys loved the taunt mystery and suspense doled out in equal portions and actually learned a little history in the process. The author appears to be an up-and-coming writer with young adult sensibilities and knows what his target audience is looking for. Tell your kids to put down Harry Potter and pick up Swindled and Nabbed!

WONDERFUL!!!.......2006-05-17

It was very adventurous! I don't want to give away the ending, but it was a surprise to me! I loved it!

Great for Mystery Genre Study!.......2006-05-10

My 5th grade class and I read this very engaging selection as part of our genre study. I was uncertain of what to expect of my students in the way of interest and motivation to read mysteries. They absolutely LOVED this book! They are begging for more Bill Doyle books!

Better than the "Magic Treehouse" Series!.......2006-05-06

Wow! My daughter's whole class is enthralled with "Nabbed!" -- she picked it out to bring in and now the teacher reads them a chapter a day after lunch. The kids appreciate that the narrator is a kid, too and speaks their language -- it's not just another adult lecturing them. It's exciting for the kids and they like the adventure. The plots have enough twists to be interesting, but not TOO many as to be confusing. As a parent, I love it because she is enjoying reading and isn't watching TV or sighing that she's bored. I also love that she's learning some history, too. Highly recommended from a mom of three!

Ancient Weapons: History Detectives (History Detectives...)

Average customer rating:

Great reference for young minds. . .

Ancient Weapons: History Detectives (History Detectives...)
Will Fowler
Manufacturer: Southwater
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1842156284

Book Description

Ancient Weapons examines the enormous range of weapons that were used throughout ancient history for hunting, attacking, and defense purposes.

Customer Reviews:

Great reference for young minds. . ........2001-04-11

This is an excellent reference book for young readers. Each section addresses specific types of weapons, providing a wide variety of color and black-and-white illustrations and multiple examples from around the world. Additional sections of the book also address armor, shields, siege weapons, fortresses, etc., and the combination of text and images provide very good, although brief reference information. You could do much worse for an easy reference on pre-gunpowder weapons. This is a great book.

The Ghost of Gracie Mansion (Mysteries in Time)

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The Ghost of Gracie Mansion (Mysteries in Time)
Susan Kohl
Manufacturer: Silver Moon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

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ASIN: 1893110044

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History Detective: Book 2
B Jamieson
Manufacturer: Pearson Schools
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 005004060X

History Detectives: Archaeologists (Scientists at Work)

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History Detectives: Archaeologists (Scientists at Work)
Louise Spilsbury
Manufacturer: Heinemann
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1403499551

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