Exciting mystery/adventure, deeply rooted in respect for Native American heritage.

A riveting adventure ...

Exciting mystery/adventure, deeply rooted in respect for Native American heritage.

In this intense adaptation of Hobbs's suspenseful novel set in 1874 Washington state, 14-year-old Nathan MacAllister uncovers a chilling murder-mystery involving a greedy sailor and members of a local Native American tribe. As the son of a lighthouse keeper, Nathan is accustomed to the storm-ravaged desolate life on Cape Flattery. He has adopted the ways of the Makah Indians as well, learning to fish and hunt under the tutelage of a family friend (and Makah) Lighthouse George. But when a clipper ship sinks just off the cape, Nathan wonders if it's true that there were no survivors. After all, who could be spying on the Makah tribe and making strange footprints on the beach? The answers to these and other questions become all too clear when the mysterious "hairy man" John Kane arrives in the village, eager to find and peddle Makah artifacts--the same artifacts Nathan has already discovered in a "ghost canoe," a sacred form of Makah burial. Gaines proves a versatile performer, gamely taking on roles of all ages, backgrounds and genders. Ages 8-up. (June) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Gr 6-9With characteristic skill, Hobbs blends together a number of elements to create an exciting adventure set in 1874 on Washington's rugged Olympic peninsula. Nathan, 14, tries to unravel the mystery of a shipwreck and the captain's murder. With Lighthouse George, a Makah fisherman, the boy paddles canoes on delivery runs to the damp, inhospitable island of Tatoosh, where his father is the lighthouse keeper, and on hunting expeditions for whales and seals. Curious about footprints found on a desolate beach near the shipwreck where all were supposedly lost, the boy explores the peninsula and encounters a shadowy figure brandishing a knife in a dark cave, a nervous local trader burying a small metal box, and a burial "ghost" canoe mounted high among tree branches facing the sea. When the boy's father receives a letter referring to a lost treasure map and the likelihood of foul play in the shipwreck, Nathan begins to piece together the truth. In a climactic scene, he is threatened by the murderer, and Lighthouse George and an eccentric village outcast come to Nathan's rescue. A gallery of good, evil, eccentric, and misunderstood characters teaches him the meaning of friendship and enriches his appreciation of another culture. Dramatic, vivid descriptions of the Pacific landscape and Makah lifestyle and customs create a rich backdrop for Nathan's adventures and discoveries. A winning tale that artfully combines history, nature, and suspense.Gerry Larson, Durham Magnet Center, Durham, NC

Hobbs (Beardream, p. 462, etc.), setting his novel on Washington's Cape Flattery in 1874, presents a hero who not only has the intelligence to solve a murder, but the resources to help bring a killer to justice.

Nathan MacAllister, 14, has a fairly exciting life as a de facto assistant lighthouse keeper to his father, retired Captain Zachary MacAllister. When not tending the lighthouse, Nathan looks after his sick mother and fishes with a friend, Lighthouse George, a Makah fisherman. When a sailing ship, the L.S. Burnaby, crashes on the rocks near the lighthouse, and the captain's murdered body washes ashore, Nathan becomes an amateur sleuth. At first, he believes (as the Makah do) that an evil spirit is at work, but certain events—his neighbor, Captain Bim, burying a treasure box at night, the discovery of a skeleton in a Makah canoe hanging in the treetops, the appearance of a charismatic yet strange new shopkeeper, Mr. Kane—lead Nathan to sensibly conclude that the mystery has more to do with real people than ghosts. While the mystery is compelling, it is Hobbs's deft weaving of Makah culture into the story that resonates, from their harvesting of wood without cutting any trees to their generosity to friends. A robust adventure in an intriguing setting.