John Huffam is sure the tall man's beard is false. He's sure of little else in November 1849, the year he is fourteen, the year his father is sentenced to London's Whitecross Street Prison.
Maybe the man following John — who claims to be one Inspector Copperfield — can explain why. Surely, Pa isn't prepared to reveal the truth, any more than the jovial bailiff, Mr. Tuckum, who knows something, but remains mum. Or the little Frenchman, Mr. Farquatt, who courts John's sister but seems most keen on Pa's work at the Naval Ordinance Office. Or Mr. O'Doul, the Irishman who insists Pa owes him the unimaginable sum of three hundred pounds.
Or what of the one-legged, single-mindedly fierce Sergeant Muldspoon, John's teacher? What about the boy's great-great-aunt, Lady Euphemia Huffam, who could pay the debt but won't for reasons of her own? What about the secretive Mr. Snugsbe of All Hallows Church, who hides himself away in the City's most voluminous coat?
Then there's Chief Inspector Ratchet of Scotland Yard, who is after somebody for some crime or other. True, John has a new friend and ally in Sary the Sneak...but what has even she got up her sleeve?
What John learns on his own is that there's a traitor on the loose, somewhere. And he must uncover the villain — no matter who it might be.
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1) “The school consisted of but one room- an absolute barrack. Dim light. No heat. Cold, clammy air. Forty one boys- ages four to sixteen- arranged in ranks of long benches and deal desks before the teacher. Youngest students forward. Oldest students in the back.”It identifies it as historical fiction because that is how it was like a long time ago. There would be a large room with kids of a large range of ages, young in the front, older in the back. That is how it was then.
ReplyDelete2) My important character would have to be Jon Huffam because he is pretty much the only on in his family that has good sense or makes sense out of what he says. He also is very reliable to his family and to everybody. He is also really important because he is the one that went to the Great-Great Aunt and asked for the loan. He is also the one that has been running around and taking matters into his own hands to work for his family.
3) This story took place in a little town in England and to my best guess I would think it was about the middle 1800’s late 1800’s that this took place. There seems to be a poorer part and a richer part to the town though. The Great-Great Aunt seems very wealthy so she probably lives in the richer part and I think that because of the Huffams going broke because of the debt they are in to Mr. O’Doul that now they live in the lower and poorer part of the town.
4)I think this is called a historical text because they have many things that we do not have nowadays like horse drawn carts that people use for transportation and we do not have to use candles to have light. They also have a lot of things that we do not have now like Queen Victoria is still alive in this book so this had to be a while ago. The three references to History I have found is 1. Queen Victoria of course was still alive, 2. they had horse drawn carriages for transportation, and 3. they had to use candles or lanterns for light. These are historical because Queen Victoria is not alive, we have cars for transportation now, and we have light bulbs that power our source of light.
"Lad, the more a sailor knows about his captain," he said, "the more he'll know how he'll weather the gales. "You'd best remember that," he said, wagging his finger at me like a curved saber. (pg. 91)
ReplyDeleteOne important character in this book was Mr.Tuckam. He sort of got John started on trying to find out the mystery.
The setting is in London England in about 1849. There are no cars, just horses.
This is identified as historical fiction because it has horses and buggies in it and Johns dad works at coping ordinance specifications for cannon manufacturers. Also when they talk about the clothes people are wearing they wouldn't exactly be up to date in today's world.
1. I sort of agree with you're quote because yes it does have something to do with history, but i do not really think that it partakes within the story's plot that much.
ReplyDelete2."Now, now,"said the bailif with a bow in my direction. " You're father is merely in debt." (p.27) This shows that Mr. Tuckam is important because he was the one that informed the Huffams of their debt and them going bankrupt.
3. Our two settings are pretty much the same. I guess that you had a more specific detail but I could not find an actual date. Also we both said in England which is a good sign. (even though it said right in the book.)
4. The one reference I chose to relate to today's ways is the clothes that you talked about. WE no longer wear really puffy dresses. or ties and corduroy pants, and outfits like that. I agree with you that they would not really be up to date.
1) I totally agree with you. Your quote also shows one of the biggest problems in the story. 110413
ReplyDelete2) All the same, when I crossed over the street, dodging the flow of cabs, carts, omnibuses, and horses, I made a point of approaching the park from the far side of the church, thereby avoiding any nearness to the police station (p. 129)
3) You're right our settings are about the same.
4) I think that the horses and buggies are pretty easy to relate to as historical.
1. Thanks. I liked the quote you chose though, I think that it does show that it is historical but it is not that important, well, neither is mine, but oh well.
ReplyDelete2.I see how that would make John important because he ... I am sort of confused by how that makes him important but I get what you mean.
3.There are some differences though in our settings. I said that it was a small town in England and you said that it took place just in England. Even though they are the same I think that being a little more detailed would help a little more. But other than that ours were pretty much exactly the same.
4. I agree with you about the clothes and of course the buggies. I have only ever seen somebody wear something like they use to once or twice, but that was on Halloween so that doesn't really count.
Thanks for the support on my answers, liked you're answers too.
Part 1. Quote # 1. “ Next morning we went to Parliament Street, Palace yard, where the Insolvent Debtors‘ Court functioned as part of the Queen’s Bench Court.” (p. 172)
ReplyDeleteThis shows that this book is HIstorical Fiction because there really used to be a Queen’s Bench, it was actually usually a King’s Bench but it serves the same purpose and does the same thing, just led by a different gender and had a different name.
Quote # 2. “ We crowded into an undersized room, which contained a barred window, a low bed, a tiny table, and a stool. There was barely enough space for us to squeeze in.” (p. 204)
This shows that this text is Historical Fiction because that is how small and how much stuff is in jail cells not only then but now too. So I guess this is not really a historical fiction text only because of how it is today too, but it does show signs of history in there.
Part 2. 1. I think that in the end John’s sister and Mr. Farquatt will marry. I think this because of how much John’s sister wanted to marry although I do not think that Farquatt will pay for The father to get out of debtors prison. I believe that John will find someway to pay it off wither it has to do with lady Eapphemia or not. I think this because the only reason that Mr. Farquatt is doing this is to impress John’s sister and John is doing this because he loves his family.
2. The current problem in the story is that John is trying to 1. figure out how to raise enough money to get his father out of prison, and 2. that John is also trying to figure out this mystery with his father and his debt and Mr. Odoul and everybody, including Mr. Tucham.
3. I think that one important character in the text is Mr. Tucham because not only has he been helping John but I think that he is also partaking in being a bad guy. I think that he is a bad guy because he has been sneaking around meeting strange people and doing things behind the Huffam’s backs. Like talking with that guy in the Oily coat and things.
1)The main problem in my story was that John’s father had a secret rifling plan that many people would want. Most of these people were either spies or just regular bad guys. John was trying to figure out at first what was going on with O’Doul man that was suing his father for 3 hundred pounds but as he went on he started finding out more and more clues that were going on with a different problem. They resolved this problem by setting up a trap to catch the people that were trying to get the secret. They ended up catching a guy that was a police officer and that dressed up in a disguise to warn John that his father must hand over the secret to him or else.
ReplyDelete2)I was correct on both of my predictions, the only thing that was different between my prediction and the ending was that they ended up not having to really pay the debt so they had an extra 3 hundred pounds!
3) I loved this book because of the mystery. I really liked the mystery ( mystery is my favorite genre). I also really liked this because of the detail they gave to the plot and what was going on in the story. The last reason I loved this book was because of how they described the emotions of the characters like when they talked about Sary and how her face looked I could really picture her in her large coat and hat. I could picture all of the dirt on her. When they talked about Sary it reminded me of the chimney sweepers in Mary Poppins. (Except Sary would be a girl of course.)
1. The main problem in this book was that John had to raise money to get his father out of prison while at the same time trying to keep the secret of rifling safe. The problem was solved when Sary tried to take the secret but it was left in the pocket of her ripped jacket. The debt was paid for by lady Eiuphemia. Who was given money by the government to pay John.
ReplyDelete2. I agreed with your prediction, and mine was pretty much the same, and we were both right.I .but I guess that it sort of makes sense. We were both right about Mr. Farquatt marrying Clarrise.
3. My opinion of this book was that it was that it really went with history but it was not boring and the Characters seemed real. As an example there really was a secret of rifling and it helped us in the civil war. Another example would be the actual traitors gate in the tower of london, I actually did a project on it once and they have all the facts. The last example would be the things that they had to go through for being in debt. Like the sponging house and the street prison.
1)I think that you're main problem was actually the real problem at the end of the story and that my problem was probably one lower than the problem you wrote.
ReplyDelete2)Thanks for the back up on my prediction. I believe that even though Clarrise and Farquatt married, I don't think that they will last very long. Well, that is if there would be a second book of course.
3) I agree that it was not boring. Some of the parts though were a little slow but definitely not boring at all.
She backed away. In a fury the man swung around towards me. That was when I saw his face. Mr. Nottingham! (pg. 328)
ReplyDeleteI would recommend this book to boys, not that a would never like it or anything, but the main character is a boy. I would also recommend it to people who are interested in books about old time England because there are a lot of books out there that kind of have the same setting as this one. I would also say that people who are interested in war would maybe like this.