The Black Tower (A Herculeah Jones Mystery) - Softcover

Byars, Betsy

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0142409375 ISBN 13: 9780142409374

Publisher: Puffin Books, 2007

Synopsis

At the eerie Hunt mansion, Herculeah Jones has been reading aloud to Lionus Hunt, an elderly stroke victim who can only communicate by blinking his eyes (once for yes, twice for no). Mr. Hunt seems to be trying to tell Herculeah something, but his gruff nurse won?t allow her to ask any questions. What is Mr. Hunt trying to say? Is it related to a murder that took place in the mansion?s black tower years ago? And who is the creepy old lady who lives in the mansion? Herculeah?s friend Meat thinks she may be asking for trouble, but Herculeah Jones won?t quit until she gets to the bottom of this mystery.

About this title

About the Author

Betsy Byars began her writing career rather late in life. "In all of my school years, . . . not one single teacher ever said to me, 'Perhaps you should consider becoming a writer,'" Byars recalls. "Anyway, I didn't want to be a writer. Writing seemed boring. You sat in a room all day by yourself and typed. If I was going to be a writer at all, I was going to be a foreign correspondent like Claudette Colbert in Arise My Love. I would wear smashing hats, wisecrack with the guys, and have a byline known round the world. My father wanted me to be a mathematician." So Byars set out to become mathematician, but when she couldn't grasp calculus in college, she turned to English. Even then, writing was not on her immediate horizon.

First, she married and started a family. The writing career didn't emerge until she was 28, a mother of two children, and living in a small place she called the barracks apartment, in Urbana, Illinois. She and her husband, Ed, had moved there in 1956 so he could attend graduate school at the University of Illinois. She was bored, had no friends, and so turned to writing to fill her time. Byars started writing articles for The Saturday Evening Post, Look,and other magazines. As her family grew and her children started to read, she began to write books for young people and, fortunately for her readers, discovered that there was more to being a writer than sitting in front of a typewriter.

"Making up stories and characters is so interesting that I'm never bored. Each book has been a different writing experience. It takes me about a year to write a book, but I spend another year thinking about it, polishing it, and making improvements. I always put something of myself intomy books -- something that happened to me. Once a wanderer came by my house and showed me how to brush my teeth with a cherry twig; that went in The House of Wingscopyright © 2000 by Penguin Putnam Books for Young Readers. All rights reserved.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6–Herculeah is back in another exciting adventure. Here, she is reading to her mother's friend, a lonely stroke victim who cannot speak, and becomes involved in a family feud and mystery involving money and murder. Against her friend Meat's better judgment, she keeps going back to the house and puts her own life in danger. A fast-paced plot and well-developed, likable characters keep readers turning pages. Fans of the series as well as those new to it will enjoy the suspense that Byars is so famous for building.–Krista Tokarz, Cuyahoga County Public Library, OH
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Edition details

• Publisher: Puffin Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0142409375
• ISBN 13: 9780142409374
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 136