Black Duck

by Janet Taylor Lisle
Carver County Library, audioCDs, 5.5 hours
read by David Ackroyd
genre: YA historical fiction, adventure

One of the 2010-11 MHL nominees, but I'm not sure I'll promote MHL this year . . . This was a good story and well-read, but I think I'd have enjoyed it more just reading the text myself. Two boys discover a dead body on a local New England beach during Prohibition. Jeddy, the son of the police chief, and Ruben are both drawn into the rum-running business, but in different ways. Their lives and friendship never recover. Tom Morrison was my favorite character. The story is told through an old Ruben Hart relating the tale to aspiring writer David.


Interesting! My memory of Black Duck was "not impressed." Then when I was subbing last month, I re-read the first five or so chapters to be ready for a group of students I was going to have that day. I found myself so engaged with the story that I checked a copy out yesterday and finished reading it in print. I really liked it! (It isn't that I think Dan Ackroyd did a bad job with the vocal work, necessarily; I think it's more that I enjoyed the text without his interpretation of the characters.)

This time around, I liked David helping elderly Ruben with his yard work. A lot of the ethical considerations of the Prohibition era also resonated for me (especially in light of the current political and social climate).

Page 12 Ruben is defending his dad's honor. I love how each of the boys believed the best about their dads, but am sad that their friendship was fractured by loyalties. (I had made a note when I subbed about "commerce and greed" but don't know what passage it referred to . . . different editions have different paginations. Ah well.

Page 145 "He must make ten times on smuggling what I clear in legal sales in a month. It's money, not law, that speaks loudest to him." Sad but true for many people. Ruben's dad is referring to Mr. Riley here. " Later that page: "It seemed unfair that a man of my dad's worth should be forced to go against his moral conscience in order to keep his job. That wasn't something that should be asked of anyone, I thought, and I was amazed that my mother would advise such a thing."

Page 217 Tom - my favorite character! "'I'm lifting my finger in the direction of peace and quiet,' Tom replied. 'Money's no answer to what's needed in my life.'" I love it when people value better things than money!

Page 237 - "There are times when truth becomes invisible, I think, beyond the reach even of those who believe they're closest to it." Again, this makes me think of the current cultural climate and it makes me sad.