13 Hangmen

Gr 5-8–Being 13 is strange enough, but Tony DiMarco is extra baffled when his great-uncle Angelo, whom he hardly knows, mails him legendary Red Sox player Ted Williams’s original baseball cap on his 13th birthday, then promptly dies and bequeaths him an entire town house in Boston’s North End. And that’s just the beginning. A magic symbol in Tony’s attic bedroom allows him to bend time and connect with his great-uncle as a 13-year-old… and with the boy who lived in the house before that… and before that.  Before long, he’s conjuring multiple generations of 13-year-olds, each from a different ethnic group reflecting a significant era in the North End's history. Together they must solve a mystery that spans the centuries, involving greed, blackmail, and murder. The fun is multi-layered, and the historical characters range from Ted Williams to Paul Revere to Mayor John “Honey” Fitzgerald, grandfather of JFK and early advocate of multiculturalism. The theme of tolerance among ethnic groups is recurring, but stops short of being didactic. 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. An interesting addendum, entitled “What’s Story, What’s History,” explains the historical basis for characters and events portrayed.would yoiu put a star on after you remove the lsee--unlsse yo're puttng  tsee