Day of Deliverance (Jack Christie Series #2)

by Johnny O'Brien

Overview

The exciting second installment in the Jack Christie adventures. (Ages 9-14)

Jack and Angus’s time travels are heating up again, and this time the boys must save Queen Elizabeth I from an early death. Meeting the playwright Marlowe and a young actor named William Shakespeare along the way, Jack and Angus will have to use all their bravery and skill to thwart their archenemy, Pendleshape, and his misguided notions of changing history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763652494
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	10/08/2010
Series:	Jack Christie Series , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Lexile:	880L (what's this?)
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	9 - 12 Years

About the Author

Johnny O'Brien was born in Edinburgh and studied history at Cambridge University. He got the idea for the Jack Christie Adventures when he came across his grandfather's medals from World War I. He lives in Surrey, England, with his family.

I am the author of the Jack Christie Series, which has a time travel theme, involving the characters in real historical events. I’ve always enjoyed writing but never thought I could make a go of it until recently. I grew up in the very beautiful border country of Scotland (the Tweed valley) and studied history at Cambridge University. I still cling on manfully to a day job—but love writing and talking to young people about writing and history.


The Jack Christie books are an action/adventure series for ten- to fourteen-year- olds (and many adults!) that have a time travel theme involving contemporary characters in real historical events (the assassination in Sarajevo in 1914, the defeat of France in 1940, Elizabethan England and the Armada in 1588, etc.). This backdrop is used to explore key points in history and associated moral choices and “what if” scenarios.

My original purpose for the series was to get my kids off the PlayStation by writing an action-packed book! But I also want to encourage interest in history among young teenagers both because of the skills it develops and because of its importance for us today and the choices we make for the future. If you read Jack Christie you’ll have a great read—but also might learn something by mistake.

Day of the Assassins is the first in the series and is based in the build up to World War I. Day of Deliverance is based in the late Elizabethan period. Day of the Assassins has been lon- listed for two awards in the U.K. and short-listed for the BBC History/History Association Young Quills Award.


Three Things You Might Not Know About Me:

1. I have a day job in which I work for a range of sinister global corporations.

2. I own eleven sheep.

3. I live in a small house that was built in 1599. It has a well on the inside. This is a hazard during parties.

Editorial Reviews

Gr 6–9—Jack and Angus are members of the VIGIL society, dedicated to protecting the secret of time travel from the Revisionist party, who want to change the future by altering the past. VIGIL learns that Revisionist chief Dr. Pendelshape is in Elizabethan England. The enemy scientist is seeking to secure the success of the Spanish Armada, making Spain rather than England the dominant influence in modern Western history. Jack and Angus are sent back to stop the plot, but something goes wrong in the transference. Separated from their team, the teens are lost in 16th-century England. They fall in with a group of players on the way to a command performance before Queen Elizabeth I, but one of the actors has a more sinister plan in mind. With assassins from the Spanish Inquisition on one hand and Revisionist goons on the other, can Jack and Angus survive until they can get back to the 21st century? Real personages such Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare fit smoothly into the plot. Actual historical events are portrayed accurately within the confines of the fictional plot, and black-and-white reproductions of maps, prints, and portraits add to the period feel. Plotlines and characters carry over from Day of the Assassins (Candlewick, 2009), but sufficient background is provided to allow this book to stand on its own. A challenging and exciting read for those who appreciate a blend of history and science fiction.—Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL

School Library Journal

Jack Christie and his hulking sidekick, Angus (introduced in Day of the Assassins, 2009), take another trip into the past as agents of VIGIL, this time to scotch a scheme by the megalomaniac Pendleshape and his Revisionists to support the Spanish Armada with modern weaponry. Gore-splashed—Jack and Angus arrive just in time to witness the graphically described beheading of Mary, Queen of Scots—and fast-paced, the jaunt features plenty of chases and escapes, as well as encounters with the likes of Christopher Marlowe, William Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth, not to mention extended scenes of actors in drunken revelry for comic relief and a violent climactic sea battle aboard Sir Francis Drake's flagship. As before, O'Brien seems to see no conflict between VIGIL's determination to prevent the past from being changed and its agents' willingness to use 21st-century technology openly—and even leave it behind. Still, noncritical readers will enjoy the nonstop action, as well as the glimpses of historical figures. The author includes afternotes on the latter. (Time-travel fantasy. 11-13)

Kirkus Reviews