  | Daybreak on Raven Island Author: Bradley, Fleur | |
| Price: $23.08 | ||
Summary:
Tori, Marvin, and Noah would rather be anywhere else than on the seventh grade class field trip to Raven Island prison. But when the three of them stumble upon a dead body in the woods, miss the last ferry back home, and then have to spend the night on Raven Island, they find that they need each other now more than ever.
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: MG Reading Level: 4.50 Points: 7.0 Quiz: 550767 |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (06/01/22)
School Library Journal (07/22/22)
Booklist (08/01/22)
Full Text Reviews:
School Library Journal - 07/22/2022 Gr 4–6—Seventh grade can be trying for any new teenager, but for Tori, who is white; Noah, who is Black; and Marvin, who is Korean American, surviving the year feels unlikely. The protagonists, along with a handful of other students, are on their way to Raven Island Prison—the first class to ever take a field trip there. The prison, reminiscent of Alcatraz, is rumored to be haunted, and ghosts have been sighted many times. Tori, Noah, and Marvin accidentally miss the ferry home and due to currents, they must wait until daybreak for another ferry to return for them. What ensues is a murder mystery that the three spend the night trying to solve. The island has many buildings, tunnels, and woods that are filled with ravens and ghosts galore, which add to the difficulty of deciphering the truth. No one is exempt from their suspect list. The mystery is written in third-person omniscient, and Bradley draws readers deep into questions of Raven Island in this suspenseful and sometimes scary narrative. Kids will keep turning the pages as they root for the three main characters on their quest for the truth. VERDICT A howling and harrowing good read, perfect for fans who like to keep guessing right up to the very end. A recommended purchase for libraries who need more mystery-horror genre-blends.—Tracy Cronce - Copyright 2022 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
Booklist - 08/01/2022 Ghosts aplenty, though not all the ectoplasmic sort, haunt this chilling tale of three middle-schoolers stranded for a dark and stormy night on an island that houses a former sanatorium and maximum-security prison. In addition to almost emptying the catalog of goosebump-inducing tropes—besides the setting and weather, readers get chill drafts, flickering lights, hidden tunnels, faceless apparitions, murky woods, and more—Bradley tucks in a visiting crew of TV ghost-hunters, a long-kept secret involving an old prison break, and a fresh corpse. There are also a few relevant social issues as two of the preteens—one Black, one Korean American—have experienced racism, and the third, who is white, is traumatized by an older brother’s arrest and imprisonment for burglary. Readers who prefer their frights full-blown but on the mild side will definitely get their money’s worth, and the author is skillful enough to keep all the disparate elements in the air while propelling her tale along to its climactic denouement and tidy resolution. A select set of inmate-assistance organizations is appended. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.
