Review: Decently written, but drags and may not be suitable for younger readers due to foul language and poor decision making
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 12 26, 2012
I was asked by the author to read and review this book.A Stairway to Danger by Ben Woodard is an adventure about two boys, Tom and Will, who find a dead body at the beginning of the book. Along with their friend, Helen, they try to figure out who the dead person is and what is on the mysterious Barge that is being zealously guarded. Set in the 1920's, we follow these boys through danger and intrigue.This book feels reminiscent of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn's adventures. The book even refers to these books for comparison. However, unfortunately, for this book, there is no comparison-- Tom Sawyer is a more superior book by far. I found my interest lagging after the first chapter. The boys seem to head towards danger with no thought for their families or consequences. Even when they escape by slim odds, they continue to pursue danger, again without many consequences. There are some interesting twists once we reach the 50% mark.The problem also with this novel is that I would normally suggest this as a book for middle schoolers to read. But with the defiance to rules and authority without consequences and pretty frequent foul language, I wouldn't think that this should be read by that age group. As for older kids, I fear that they wouldn't find this book very interesting when there are other books that are more enticing.Overall, decently written, but does not fall into an easy category for readers.