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Title: Nightbirds on Nantucket by Joan Aiken ISBN: 0-395-97185-3 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company Pub. Date: 01 October, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.8 (5 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A Rich and Exciting Read
Comment: When we last saw Dido Twite at the end of "Black Hearts in Battersea" she was going down with the Dark Dew ship, swept away from her friends Simon and Justin in the middle of the ocean. Whilst the two boys were forced to go on without her (eventually preventing an assasination attempt on the Duke of Battersea), Dido's fate remained a mystery, that Joan Aiken now resolves for expectant readers in the third book in her "Wolves Saga".
After a ten month long sleep, Dido awakes on board a whaler in the middle of the Artic sea, on a boat completely covered in icicles and frost. There she meets young Nate, a ship's hand, who informs her of her surroundings, of how far she is from home. Also on board is the fox-like and slimy Mr Slighcarp and the moony Captain Casket, who is determined to chase and catch the magnificent pink whale. He informs Dido that his young daughter Dutiful Penitence Casket is also on board, but who has locked herself away in a cupboard in mortal terror of the sea. He requests that Dido attempt to coax her out, and then accompany her to her Aunt Tribulation on the island of Nantucket before she tries to head back to England. Dido, taking it into her responsiblity to teach Penitence not to be so timid, agrees despite her homesickness.
But there are other mysteries about, such as the fierce stowaway that Dido finds hiding in the hold, and the suspicious actions of Mr Slighcarp that aren't solved by the time Penitence and Dido reach the domineering and threatening Aunt Tribulation. The two girls eventually realise there's a Hanoverian plot in the making that involves a giant gun being fired from Nantucket to London, which will not only succeed in destroying the palace, but with blowing Nantucket backwards into New York harbour! With pink whales, German inventors, hidden woods and a familiar villainess from "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase", Joan Aiken once more dishes up excitement and intrigue set in her continually-growing parallel world, where history mingles with fiction, and characters engage in some rather incredible situations!
To a point, "Nightbirds in Nantucket" was not quite up to the standards of "The Wolves of Willoughby Chase" and "Black Hearts in Battersea", as the duo of the strong-willed Dido and the meek little Penitence reminded me a little too much of Bonnie and Sylvia of "Wolves", (especially in "Aunt Tribulation"'s treatment of them), and the Hanoverian plot of conquering King James III was basically the same threat that was faced in "Black Hearts". However, Joan Aiken's imagination is amazing, whether she be creating the icy whaling ship sailing through the Artic Sea, or the warm sunny moorlands of Nantucket with its white-washed cottages. Her melodramatic plot twists and devices are always humourous and adventuresome (despite their unlikeliness), and the story ends on a note of further adventure for the irrepressable Dido Twite.
Rating: 5
Summary: Nightbirds on Nantucket
Comment: As a child I LOVED this book and read it several times
Rating: 5
Summary: Awesome characters yet again...!
Comment: Yet another incredible book in this series by Joan Aiken! This one places the focus on Dido Twite, and one of the things that I thought was most enjoyable about this book was seeing Dido grow into the strong, tough-girl from the wretched "brat" in Black Hearts in Battersea. I also thought that there was a lot more humour in this book than the previous three. I guess this book is like the "growth" book. Dido grows into the confident person we see in the later books, and Dutiful Penitence, under Dido's care, also becomes much stronger during the course of this adventure. I guess what I'm saying is that this is the book that makes Dido the mainstay for the rest of the series by showing how she grew stronger and how she helped others grow stronger.
I think it's a funny spoof of the whaling society of Nantucket in the 19th century, and of the Puritanical sort of Quaker types who brought up "Pen". This book introduces several sympathetic, believable, "bang-up" characters, such as Nate, Doc Mayhew, Cap'n Casket and Professor Breadno, and of course, Mr. Jenkins. The plot is wildly fantastical, (and physically impossible, in some parts) but the wonderful storytelling more than makes up for that, and rather sets the scene for the even more eerie and improbable sequels, The Stolen Lake and The Cuckoo Tree. Loads of fun, a must read for kids, and I personally think that adults should read it just to get in touch with the inner child within, etc. etc. READ THIS BOOK!
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Title: Wolves of Willoughby Chase (Wolves Chronicles) by Joan Aiken ISBN: 0440496039 Publisher: Yearling Books Pub. Date: 01 November, 1987 List Price(USD): $5.50 |
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Title: The Cuckoo Tree by Joan Aiken ISBN: 0618070230 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company Pub. Date: 25 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: Dido and Pa by Joan Aiken ISBN: 0618196234 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company Pub. Date: 28 October, 2002 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: The Stolen Lake by Joan Aiken ISBN: 0618070214 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company Pub. Date: 25 September, 2000 List Price(USD): $5.95 |
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Title: Midwinter Nightingale (Wolves Chronicles) by Joan Aiken ISBN: 0385730810 Publisher: Delacorte Press Pub. Date: 10 June, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.95 |
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