T.K. Welsh

RESURRECTION MEN

Jen Robinson's Book Page, February 2007
"Resurrection Men, by T. K. Welsh, is a mystery set in London in the 1830s, at a time when body-snatchers sold corpses to doctors eager to learn. Victor is a plucky young Italian boy who endures a series of horrific events. His parents are killed in front of him, and he's forced into life as a cabin boy. When an accident damages his leg, crippling him, he's thrown callously overboard, no longer of use. Rescued, and then sold again, he ends up a professional beggar in London. Only his friends, Rebecca and Nico, keep Victor going. At least until a wealthy gentleman takes an interest in him.

"T. K. Welsh doesn't shrink from depicting the horrors and dangers faced by beggar children in the city: police and criminals and filth and beatings, to name a few. But these ordinary perils pale in comparison to the challenge faced by Victor and his friends in Resurrection Men. Victor, Nico, and Rebecca each have their own strengths, and Victor in particular comes across as a boy who anyone would be proud to know.

"I found this story gripping and fast-paced, filled with intriguing historical details. Several of the characters, as well as the general atmosphere of the book, feel menacing. You can practically smell the smells, and feel the hair rising on the back of your neck, as you read this book. The ending is utterly satisfying and consistent.  Highly recommended for fans of historical fiction."

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THE UNRESOLVED

Jen Robinson's Book Page, February 2007
"The Unresolved is a deceptively slim book about an actual historical tragedy. In 1904 fire on the steamboat General Slocum killed more than 1000 people, mostly woman and children, mostly German immigrants, on New York's East River. Many people suffered, and many people were to blame. According to Wikipedia, this was New York City's worst loss-of-life disaster until September 11th, 2001.

"In this novel by T. K. Welsh, the spirit of one of the dead, Mallory Meer, is unable to rest until she uncovers the reasons for the disaster. Mallory, as a spirit, isn't very strongly anchored in time, and her thoughts and experiences drift backwards and forwards in a somewhat stream-of-consciousness manner. For example (from page 2):

My name is Mallory Meer. I'd turned fifteen the week before, and in an hour -- thanks to the only boy I've ever loved -- I would be dead.

I float around the white memorial in Middle Village, Queens, among the other insubstantial figures. We are the unidentified remembered -- the unknown, unforgotten victims of the General Slocum who continue, unresolved, like Tantalus, to grasp at something slightly out of reach.

"Mallory travels through time and space, haunting the survivors and those culpable in the disaster, though most don't know that she's there. She learns things about their backgrounds, and their actions, and gradually pieces together the chain of events that led to so many unnecessary deaths. But it's a difficult non-life for Mallory, visiting with person after person, reliving traumatic events over and over again, and trying to communicate with the living.

"This book is a haunting chronicle of the ways things can go wrong, one decision at a time, and the way people hide from the truth, and lie to protect themselves. There are also interesting tidbits about immigrant life in New York, and the way that breweries work. Although the writing style takes getting used to, I found the story riveting, and read it in a single sitting. I recommend it for fans of historical fiction, especially mysteries, and fans of ghost stories."

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JANUARY, 2007, Readers' Poll

Here are the results from the January, 2007, Readers' Poll.  This one was tough.  Only one third of you got it right.  The correct answer was, "He was tossed up onto a nearby tugboat."

What happened to Dustin when the Slocum floundered?

33% He leapt from the rail onto Ward's Island. 33% He was tossed up onto a nearby tugboat. 33% He was crushed by the steamship's paddlewheel. 0.0% He drowned while trying to swim to safety. 0.0% He fell to the bilge and burned.

FEBRUARY 2007

NEW AND NOTEWORTHY

Recently ranked one of the Top Ten Children's Books of 2006 by the Washington Post, THE UNRESOLVED has also been named a 2007 Association of Jewish Libraries Notable Book for Teens by the Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee, which recognized only six works in Jewish teen literature this year.

To buy your copy, click here!

READERS' POLL
The results are in for the January, 2007, Readers' Poll.  This one was tough.  Only one third of you got it right.  The correct answer was, "He was tossed up onto a nearby tugboat."

For the results of previous polls, click here

REVIEWS (Excerpted in January)

THE UNRESOLVED -- Editorial Reviews

Flamingnet Book Blog, January 2007
"... a gripping story that will surely keep (the) reader's attention."

Sydney Taylor Book Award Committee (Association of Jewish Libraries), January 2007
"A unique and spooky departure from the typical historical novel, The Unresolved, while disturbing and haunting, is also compelling and captivating."

RESURRECTION MEN -- Editorial Reviews

TeensReadToo, January 2007
"RESURRECTION MEN is an intense, dark work of historical fiction that made me read every page intently to the end, while trying to cope with the knot of sadness and anguish that I had in my stomach. T. K. Welsh’s rich vocabulary and detailed descriptions, where almost no noun goes without an adjective, transported me to the streets of London, and made me smell the putrid odors of the city, live the horrors of the children’s lives, witness the horrid dissections of the dead bodies, and hear the unsettling noise of the broken bones...I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes historical fiction."

For the full text of the Reviews, click here.