The Great Trouble: A Mystery of London, the Blue Death, and a Boy Called Eel
Gr 5-8-Hopkinson's historical novel (Knopf, 2013) transports listeners to 1854 London at the time of the famous Broad Street pump cholera epidemic. Fictional and real characters and events are adeptly mixed to create an informative and gripping tale. The main character is the titular "boy called Eel," a likable orphan working odd jobs to take care of his little brother and keep them out of the work houses and the clutches of Fisheye Bill Tyler. Dr. John Snow, the real-life doctor who traced the cause of the outbreak, is introduced when Eel asks for the prominent doctor's help with "The Great Trouble." Keeping in mind Snow's controversial theory about the spread of the disease, Eel and the doctor work together to gather evidence from affected families and convince the town committee to shut off the Broad Street pump. The author successfully conveys the race against time as the "blue death" spreads rapidly, killing more than 600 people before Snow and Eel can stop it. Matthew Frow does a wonderful job of recreating the distinct accents that existed among Londoners and their various stations, although Eel's accent is so thick that he can be difficult to understand. Historical notes, read by Kimberly Farr, will satisfy listeners whose curiosity has been piqued. Hand this novel to fans of The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker by Cynthia DeFelice and Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson.-Terri Norstrom, Cary Area Library, ILα(c) Copyright 2013.  Library Journal. LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc.  No redistribution permitted.--This text refers to theAudio CDedition.