Robb White (1) (1909–1990)

Oh, lovely. I've read this a dozen times, though not for years; I remembered it fondly but had forgotten essentially all the details (except sailing ship, island, and the Lion's Paw shell). Reread it, and it lived up to my memory of it. I like Penny (though she gets a little soppy at times), Nick (who is appropriately silly for a 9-year-old boy), and Ben. Mildly sexist - but while Penny does collapse in tears a couple times, and does most of the cooking (where did she learn that?), she also show more achieves some major tasks through sheer endurance, and neither of the boys ever dismisses her just because she's a girl. The chase gets nasty at times. The descriptions of sailing are wonderful - if you like Swallows and Amazons, you'll love this too. Complete happy ending - very convenient, both in what happens and in _when_ it happens, but it's the kind of coincidence that really could come true. Plus the magic of the shell, of course (mild sarcasm). Great story; it was worth reading when I was a kid and it's still worth it. I'll be looking for more by this author. show less

I wasn't expecting much from Deathwatch. First of all it is teen fiction which, forgive me, is so often just so much schlock. Second, well, it is teen fiction. I was pleased to find it to be a well-crafted work of survival and suspense. The craftsmanship along with the riveting plot make it an excellent choice for teachers of middle schoolers, even older students in the right context. My biggest problem with the book is that I have serious spatial issues when reading. There were sections in show more which Ben was plotting his next move that were heavy in spatial descriptions which had me reading with my tongue stuck out and a smidge of drool forming. My usual look of pained concentration. Rather inelegant. If I wasn't going to teach the book, I would have said "Yeah, yeah, yeah" and skipped these bits." There was nothing wrong with them, just not compatible with my rightbraininess. In other words, "It's not you, baby. It's me." Obviously, I will have similarly challenged students, so I will need to think of ways to mitigate the problems these sections will cause them. Otherwise, it is a well-written, ripping yarn of cat and mouse desert survival as Ben, a young college student tries to outwit Madec, the wealthy man who has hired him to take him hunting for big horn sheep in the Mojave Desert. Their partnership had been uncomfortable from the start, but when Madec accidentally shots an old prospector things get ugly. Ben refuses to be party to Madec's cover up scheme. Madec's solution? Ben becomes his quarry. I know my twelve year old girls are going to relish the bit where Ben drinks from a murky, guano-mired puddle and chows down on raw quail, their blood dripping from his mouth. That alone is worth the price of admission to me. Too bad there aren't more snakes. They so loved the snakes in True Grit! show less

Originally published in 1972 and now considered a classic of it’s genre, the YA novel, Deathwatch is first and foremost a survival story. When a wealthy man hires, Ben, a local college student as his hunting guide, he expect his young guide to look the other way when he doesn’t follow the rules, but when he mistakenly shoots a person instead of the Rocky Mountain Sheep he swore he saw, he really shows his true colors as he refuses to allow Ben to report the death. He strips Ben of his show more clothes, weapons, food and water and keeping a watch from a distance waits for the extreme conditions to take Ben’s life as well.

The story is short and fairly simple as Ben uses his knowledge of the desert to outsmart the villain and survive. Although a little far-fetched I thought this story was very well done and I can certainly see that young people would be glued to the pages. I enjoyed the descriptions of the desert and the survival techniques that Ben used. This book is often compared to Hatchet by Gary Paulsen but the additional aspect of man-against-man as well as man-against-nature gives Deathwatch an exciting edge. show less

Mrs. Kantor read this book, chapter by chapter, to my fourth grade class. I couldn't wait to find out how it ended and before the first week was over I had it checked out of the local library. I loved it so much that 20 years later I had to run down a copy for myself.

Perhaps it is because I was born in Florida and have a deep love for the version of it I never saw -- pre-Disney, pre-theme parks, pre-space program, when it was a winter destination, an exotic land for citrus fruit and winter show more strawberries, cattle country, horse country, beautiful beaches and dangerous swamplands. That's the Florida we glimpse in this book, the Florida of the 1940s.

Perhaps it is those three children on a sailboat searching for family, pitting themselves against the adult world that doesn't understand them, and the elements which continue on regardless of them. The faith they have in each other and in the miracle that they believe will happen if they can find the elusive Lion's Paw seashell draws me back to the story time after time.

I'm not sure, exactly. I just know I like to go there, just like I did in fourth grade. show less