Robb White (1) (1909–1990)

Though the plot and dialogue are sometimes unsubtle to the point of silliness, it's pleasantly short and to the point for an ensemble piece. Despite the characters each being a sketch of a type, they all feel complete enough. The pair of twists at the end, while somewhat predictable, are reasonably seamless and don't feel shoehorned in. This review sounds like faint praise, but this is a pretty satisfying watch, especially because you can see the kernels of tropes that would later become horror staples.… (more)

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 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.… (more)

I honestly expected to hate this novel because of the cover, the explanation of what they story was about, the way it started ... honestly, I couldn't see anything positive about how this story was going to go. The man in the story was an absolute prick! He was completely insane and rude and cruel from the start!

It took until nearly the end before I clued myself in that it was the kid in the novel that was the hero. Prior to that I never made any connection to the fact that the child might be the hero in the story since it was a children's novel -- never made that connection! Likely because growing up, I was always treated as the man treated the boy at the start ... like I was the dumb one and caused all the problems.

Adrianne… (more)

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 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.… (more)