Black Duck

by Janet Taylor Lisle

Book Overview

It is spring 1929, and Prohibition is in full swing. So when Ruben and Jeddy find a dead body washed up on the shore of their small coastal Rhode Island town, they are sure it has something to do with smuggling liquor. Soon the boys, along with Jeddy's strongwilled sister, Marina, are drawn in, suspected by rival bootlegging gangs of taking something crucial off the dead man. Then Ruben meets the daring captain of the Black Duck, the most elusive...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0142409022
• ISBN13: 9780142409022
• Release Date: September 2007
• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.1" x 7.1"
• Age Range: 10 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 5 and higher

Customer Reviews

Great Historical Fiction Geared For Kids!!

I bought "Black Duck" based on the book's description and also based on all the great reviews it has received thus far. I loved the book the entire way through. "Black Duck" is geared for kids ages 9-12 according to the description with the main characters being teenage boys. I enjoyed how the author intermixes the past with the present in "Black Duck" by making some chapters in the present day and other chapters in the past. Janet Taylor Lisle is able to bring to life what rum-running during the prohibition may have been like on the New England coast in 1929 by using a cast of fictional characters and how prohibition may have effected a community. The story is told through the eyes of Ruben Hart, who was a teenager during 1929. Currently Ruben Hart is an elderly man. He is approached by a young boy named, David Peterson, whom wants to be a journalist when he grows up. Young David has his sights on writing a story about the the rum-running days and this is where he crosses paths with Ruben Hart. David is set on interviewing Mr. Hart about the rum-running days as he has heard that Mr. Hart knows something about those days. The interview happens over the summer vacation and David learns/hears quite a story from Mr. Hart & quite a tale it is. The two become friends by the end of the novel. "Black Duck" is a good story with well developed characters!! The story is intriguing and keeps you wanting to know more about what will happen next!!

More Than I Hoped For

A year ago three of my sixth graders wanted to read Black Duck, a new book in our school library, for Literature Circles. That was my first experience with the book. I started reading on my way home to Illinois and couldn't stop. Likewise, my sixth graders had a lot of praise for the mystery set in the Prohibition Era. If you parents or teachers are looking for a book that will motivate even the most unwilling reader, this is it. One of the boys confided that although he is a jock, he had to confess he couldn't stop reading it. At first some of the girls were resistant, but soon they, too, had to admit they were hooked. Telling the story in an interview is a unique format. This book also lends itself to a variety of research topics the students enjoyed: Prohibition, the Great Depression, the Roaring 20s, Women's Suffrage, politics, gangs, gansters, Rhode Island, the East Coast, and of course bootlegging and smuggling. What a great way to learn some history! I highly recommend it.

A Great Book

The Black Duck is a real page turner that keptme reading.This shows how a friendship that was so strong can end up in the end so bad and how a boat can be an inspiration. This historical fiction book is about Ruben and Jeddy, who are best friends find a naked leg on the beach. Then in the man's pocket is a half of a fifty dollar bill. They each don't no what that means. Ruben doesn't want to report it to the police, while Jeddy wants to turn it in. While this is happenig rum smuggling is taking place and Ruben wants to find out who did this. This is making there friendship go bad. This is a great book for people who like boats and action. I highley recommend getting this book.

Reading is not my thing

The Black Duck was my favorite and only book I've ever read. The Black Duck was a book full of action and is also a mystery based book. It was a story about old time gansters, that were smuggling alcohol by a boat called the Black Duck. At a time where alcohlo was illegal in the US. It was also about a man trying to write a story on the Black Duck incident that happened 40 years ago. He also interviewed the only surviver of the Black Duck. IT was A thrilling book even for someone who hates to read! I will always choose a book like this to read. I give this book a 5 star review, it was amazing!

Black Duck

The story starts when Ruben Hart and his friend Jeddy McKenzie find a dead body along the beach in a business suit. They search him and find a pipe and a tobacco pouch. The man is wearing a fancy golden watch which Jeddy and Ruben find odd because there is not really ant big business around in there town. The man was shot in the neck when the observed him so obviously some one was after him. Since Jeddy's dad is police chief the police tell them to stay away from the body. The next day Ruben and Jeddy went to check if the body was still there, but it was gone. There were no footprints, the tide was to low last night for a boat to steal the body. The boys start guessing what happened to the body and eventually figure that a plane must've come and stolen the body. They start wondering why someone would steal a body and decide to ask old Tom Morrison. Tom was one of the best fishermen until one day he crashed his boat, he decided to join another crew, but then he got his eye caught on a fishhook. So Tom now lived in a shack down by the beach people usually see him hunting for blue crabs. They go to tom house and ask him if he has seen a plane land around on the beach. Ruben notices that Tom is wearing a fancy golden watch the one that was one the body! So they ask again and Tom decides to answer he said that the had been a plane that landed by the body the men that came out checked if the body was still alive, shot him, laughed, shot him some more, and then stole the body. When leaving they heard a boat landing on the beach and hid in the sand dunes. After about a minute they heard a dog yelp and a gun shot. They went to see if he was alright and his dog was shot. This is the most I will tell you for now I recommend this book for 6th grade to about 9th this was one of the bets books I ever read.