Book Review - The Night Tourist by Katherine Marsh

Title: The Night Tourist

Written by: Katherine Marsh

Ages: 10 - 12

Publisher: Hyperion Books for Children

ISBN: 978-142310689-0

Published: September 2007

Hardcover: 232 pages

Price: $17.99

Brilliant young ninth-grade boy, Jack Perdu lives on the Yale University campus where his father is a professor. Jack leads a solitary life as a classic prodigy and his father finds it difficult to relate to Jack.

At the arrangement of his father, Jack finds himself traveling to see a doctor in New York City. Jack is bewildered by this turns of events, but intrigued at the same time. Jack has not been to New York City since his mother’s death eight years earlier. His appointment with the doctor is bizarre to say the least and Jack becomes more confused.

While waiting for his train in Grand Central Terminal he befriends a girl named Euri, who strangely enough no one else seems to know of her existence.

“Jack took a surprised step back from the column. The voice was a girl’s, one he didn’t recognize. He turned around to look for her. But as he scanned the other corner, his stomach tightened. The tour guide had left, and all the tourists were gone. Commuters were rushing through the mezzanine, but no one was standing near any of the columns.”

With the new formed friendship and Euri’s encouragement the two explore the underworld of Grand Central Terminal. Jacks discovery of the ghostly underworld with hidden tracks and stairwells brings him to a world where it may be possible to see his mother again.

The author, Katherine Marsh, easily brings to life the wonders of New York City history through mystical storytelling of those gone before. To learn more about Ms. Marsh visit: http://www.haddixbooks.com/home.html