Who Was That Masked Man, Anyway? - Softcover

Avi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0663585198 ISBN 13: 9780663585199

Publisher: Amer Printing House for Blind, 1995

Synopsis

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. In the early 1940s, when nearly everyone else is thinking about World War II, sixth-grader Frankie Wattleson gets in trouble at home and at school because of his preoccupation with his favorite radio programs.

About this title

About the Author:

Avi's work spans nearly every genre and has received nearly every major prize, including the 2003 Newbery Medal for Crispin: The Cross of Lead. He lives in Denver, Colorado.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 4-6-- Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear when radio was king and kids were its loyal subjects. The most loyal of them all may well be Frankie (Franklin Delano) Wattleson who--to his presidential namesake's Four Freedoms--would fervently add a fifth: the freedom to listen to the radio! But even in those long-ago days of World War II, the tyranny of parents and homework kept interferring. Trying to find a radio to listen to is only one of the boy's problems. His parents have rented a room to a mad scientist (actually he's a medical student), and his brother is wounded in combat; sent home to recover, he takes Frankie's room, sending the boy to the basement--without benefit of a radio. But Frankie has a plan. Several plans actually, for in reality, he is (ta da!) Chet Barker, Master Spy! The happy ending is hard-won but consistent with both the cheerful tone of the book and the tradition of period radio dramas, excerpts from which are interspersed within the narrative. What turns this delightful book into a tour de force is Avi's choice to tell his incident-and character-rich narrative entirely through dialogue. And unattributed dialogue at that. Yet so sure is his grasp of his characters and the unique sounds of their individual voices that readers will never doubt who is speaking or wonder what is happening. Avi's skill and obvious affection for the golden age of radio shine through, and are sure to keep readers tuned in for another episode. --Michael Cart, formerly at Beverly Hills Pub lic Library
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Amer Printing House for Blind
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0663585198
• ISBN 13: 9780663585199
• Binding: Paperback