About the Author

Jane Yolen is an award-winning author who has written more than 380 books for children, including the bestseller How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? and the 1988 Caldecott Medal winner Owl Moon. She is known for her beautiful poetry, picture books, fairy tales, novels, and nonfiction, and has even been called "the Hans Christian Andersen of America" (Newsweek). She lives in Hatfield, Massachusetts. Visit her at JaneYolen.com.

Heidi Elisabet Yolen Stemple is the author of more than thirty books for children, some of which she coauthored with her mother, Jane Yolen, including Not All Princesses Dress in Pink. Heidi lives in Hatfield, Massachusetts.

Roger Roth has been an illustrator since graduating with a BFA from Pratt Institute in 1980. Roger's work appears regularly in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Barron's, and other publications. His work is also used by advertising companies for national and international campaigns. Roger has illustrated more than fifteen children's books (two of which he also wrote). He also serves as senior lecturer at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia and is a frequent presenter at area schools.

Reviews

This first book in a new series of unsolved mysteries may well have amateur sleuths lying awake at night. When the crewless ship Mary Celeste was found adrift in 1872, there were no signs of pirates, mutiny, cholera or weather damage, and its cargo of raw alcohol was intact; only the lifeboat and navigational instruments were missing. A girl narrator introduces the story of the ship's discovery by the crew of the Dei Gratia. Her notes on a spiral steno pad, plus nautical definitions on multicolored Post-It notes, are tipped into the book's main action as the 19th-century seamen rummage through the ship and attempt to reconstruct what happened. The book ends with a review of such possible explanations as "The Drunken Crew Theory" and "The Sea Monster Theory," and questions help detectives evaluate whether each theory fits the clues. Mother-daughter team Yolen and Stemple (who previously collaborated for Meet the Monsters) spin a suspenseful account and add further significance and factual detail through the clever informal format. Roth's (Fishing for Methuselah) watercolor-and-pencil artwork combines realistic nautical touches with the human camaraderie of life at sea. Young Sherlocks will be eager to set sail on this team's next course. Ages 6-up. (Oct.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

Gr 3-5-Fans of detective stories will be thrilled to try their hands at solving this true historic mystery. In 1872, the Mary Celeste sailed out of New York and into the realm of bizarre puzzles. When found by the crew of the Dei Gratia less than a month after setting sail, the brig was in seaworthy condition and almost completely in order, but everyone on it had vanished. The tale is told by a fictional character who shares her methods of investigation and the known facts of the case. Warm, double-page watercolors with details highlighted in pencil show each aspect of the discovery and exploration of the derelict ship, and enhance the drama of the story. Maritime terms and supplemental information on the individuals involved appear on panels drawn to resemble sticky notes and lined notebook papers that are superimposed on the illustrations. The book includes a listing of a half dozen of the most popular theories, accompanied by questions that can be answered from the text, thus encouraging readers to exercise keen observation and deductive reasoning to form their own opinions. While the answers to the mystery of the Mary Celeste may never be known, this is an intriguing story.-Ann G. Brouse, Big Flats Branch Library, NY Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.