T.K. Welsh

THE UNRESOLVED

FLIP THE SWITCH: TEENS AWAKE, October 2007
"The Unresolved is a historical mystery about the General Slocum steamboat fire. The steamboat fire was the worst disaster in New York City until the World Trade Center attack on September 11, 2001. Sadly, this fire and shipwreck, in which over 1,000 people lost their lives, has largely been forgotten today. The cause of the fire was never determined.

"On June 14, 1904, members of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church boarded the steamboat on the way to their annual end of Sunday School class picnic. Most members of St. Mark’s were German immigrants. The story is told by the ghost of one of the trip takers, fifteen-year-old Mallory Meer. Mallory has a secret rendezvous to meet Dustin, a young Jewish boy she has a crush on and who also happens to be her father’s apprentice. Their secret meeting does not last very long, because soon after the immigrants board the ship, the fire starts. The life jackets were made of cork, and they disintegrated, allowing people to drown instead of float. The life boat bolts were rusted to the side of the boat and all water hoses burst making both items of no use to the trapped passengers.

"Mallory’s ghost chronicles the aftermath of the fire and shipwreck. She attends the coroner’s inquest, which were of great interest to the community. Historical records indicate that over 600 families lost someone in the fire and shipwreck. Mallory follows the life of the key players of the shipwreck throughout the course of the rest of their lives. The Unresolved is a great quick read for those who like historical fiction or who want to know more about this forgotten tragedy.

"The Unresolved is a nominee for the Teens Top 10...If it’s your favorite, don’t forget to place your vote during Teen Read Week, October 14-20, 2007."

Review by Marci @ Duraleigh Road Library

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SEPTEMBER, 2007, Readers' Poll

Here are the results for the September, 2007, Readers' Poll.

67% of you got this right.  Congratulations!

What did Mr. Tipple drop onto the table at the Naked Boy pub?

66.7% The freshly pulled jawbone of a man 11.1% A bag of gold coins 11.1% A bottle of rum 0% A blood-covered awl 11.1% Nico's hand

OCTOBER 2007

NEW AND NOTEWORTHY

THE UNRESOLVED
THE UNRESOLVED has been nominated for a 2007 Teens' Top 10.  Sponsored by YALSA (Young Adult Library Services Association) and the YA Galley Committee, the Teens’ Top 10 is the only book award recommended and awarded solely by teens. Fifteen (15) teen groups sifted through Advance Reader’s Copies/Galleys to find the best books for teens published in 2006 and 2007. This year, 25 titles made it through the laborious process and were nominated for the Teens’ Top 10. In order to be nominated, a book must be selected by 3 different teens from within these 15 groups.

VOTE here for your favorites during Teen Read Week ~ October 14 - 20, 2007.  It only takes a few seconds -- just 3 clicks and you're done.

RESURRECTION MEN
RESURRECTION MEN was recently referenced by the authors of the YA YA YAs website in a story about Entertainment Weekly's review of Jenny Downham's Before I Die.  When EW stated, "Unfortunately, Downham’s publisher has handicapped Before I Die by labeling it a young-adult novel, thus ghettoizing this gem to the back of most bookstores," the YA YA YAs authors state, "My guilty side admits that I made a similar criticism in my review of T.K. Welsh's Resurrection Men."

RESURRECTION MEN has been named a Junior Library Guild selection.

Publishers Weekly called RESURRECTION MEN, "A haunting tour of London's underclass during the 1830s...Welsh's visceral descriptions of industrial London are unflinching...Teens will likely be both captivated by Victor's harrowing story as well as his ability to prevail in the face of harsh injustices."  VOYA said, "(Welsh's) plot and writing style are reminiscent of Oliver Twist by Dickens but far more graphic. Teen readers will thoroughly enjoy the hair-raising suspense in this historical thriller."  And KLIATT said, "Like M.T. Anderson's The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, this look at sinister events in history makes the era come alive and lingers in the memory."

Inspired by the 1831 “Italian Boy” trial of body snatchers in London, England, RESURRECTION MEN is a spine-tingling murder mystery that pits a beggar boy named Victor against a nefarious group of Resurrection Men. In this tumultuous dark underworld, where a “fresh subject” can fetch as much as nine guineas -- the yearly salary of a working man -- Victor must risk his life to uncover the identity of the murderer who is at the heart of London’s furtive trade in human corpses.

For a sample chapter of RESURRECTION MEN, click here

If you already own a copy, click here to access a secret section of the site...just for you.  [NOTE:  Make sure to enter the name Secret (S-e-c-r-e-t) and the correct Password, printed at the rear of the book.]

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IN OTHER NEWS

THE UNRESOLVED
Ranked one of the Top Ten Children's Books of 2006 by the Washington Post, THE UNRESOLVED has just been nominated for a YALSA  2007 Teens' Top Ten.  The novel was 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.  The novel was also nominated for the 2006 Cybils literary awards, and for the 2007 Best Books for Young Adults (BBYA) by the American Library Association.  It's currently featured as one of the Best Teen Books of the year 2006 at BarnesAndNoble.com.

The Washington Post said, "Welsh writes with a precision and delicacy unusual for YA fiction."  School Library Journal said, "THE UNRESOLVED tells a remarkable story in a remarkable way."  Horn Book Magazine called THE UNRESOLVED, "A decidedly unconventional ghost story ... (and) a tightly wound novel."  Kirkus Reviews termed it, "A remarkable account."  Romantic Times said, "THE UNRESOLVED is a book you shouldn't pass up."  The Edge of the Forest said, "It may be the most beautifully written novel I've read this year."  All About the Book said, "The Unresolved is a great one. Mallory is the most well-developed ghostly character I've seen in a long, long time..."  And Midwest Book Review called THE UNRESOLVED, "a wonderfully different kind of ghost story."

Inspired by the tragic events of 9/11, THE UNRESOLVED reaches back into history to explore what was, until recently, the greatest disaster in New York City history.  Based on the sinking of the General Slocum steamship -- which caught fire in the East River, New York, in 1904, resulting in the death of over 1,000 mostly German immigrants on a church outing -- THE UNRESOLVED is at once a ghost story, a courtroom drama, an examination of immigrant life, and a tale of love, redemption and revenge.  The novel dramatizes how a single life –- and death –- can have a powerful influence on history.

For a sample chapter of THE UNRESOLVED, click here.

To buy your copy, click here!

READERS' POLL
The results are in for last month's READERS' POLL.  The question was, "What did Mr. Tipple drop onto the table at the Naked Boy pub?"  67% of you got this one right.  Congratulations!

The correct answer was, "The freshly pulled jawbone of a man."  Gross!

For the results of previous polls, click here.

REVIEWS (Excerpted in September)

RESURRECTION MEN -- Reader Reviews

Jan @ www.goodreads.com
"A dark story about child enslavement and other horrors of the Victorian age...a fascinating read."

To buy your copy, click here!

THE UNRESOLVED-- Editorial Reviews

Oz and Ends
"...I found the language of The Unresolved to be its strongest point: poetic, interesting, and evocative of the turn of the last century. The writing and imagination were strong enough for me to put Welsh's second historical novel for young people, Resurrection Men, on my list of books to read."

Gemini Moon
"A good suspence book...well written. The courtroom scenes reminded me a lot of the scenes from To Kill a Mockingbird."

To buy your copy, click here!

THE UNRESOLVED-- Reader Reviews

Teen Reviewer @ 2007 Teens' Top Ten Book Nominees
"Brilliant story, beautifully written."

To buy your copy, click here!

THE UNRESOLVED

Bookslut, October 2007
"Initially, T.K. Welsh’s The Unresolved read like a traditional historical novel, albeit with a narrator who dies in the opening chapter. Welsh does an excellent job of detailing the tragedy of the General Slocum, a steamship that caught fire in New York’s East River in 1904 and caused the deaths of more than 1,000 people. In the weeks after the accident it was revealed that much of the rescue equipment onboard was unusable, including fire hoses, life boats and life jackets. It’s a rotted life jacket that led to the drowning death of Mallory, the book’s undead protagonist, and is the reason why she is begins haunting many other people.

"The survivors are suspicious and they and their families need to find somebody to blame. The tragedy pulled apart the New York community of Little Germany and the deaths ultimately led to its demise. Mallory moves between family members and friends, sharing their thoughts, and then eases into the lives of those who were responsible for the tragedy, forcing liars to see the truth and not letting others forget. Along the way, she observes what it means to be not only dead, but to have left behind a body that is unrecognizable:

And then it was my turn. I saw my mangled body being lowered down the frightful lip of that mass grave -- great hole for the unrecognized and unremembered. I felt my torso slide, my legs unfold beneath me. Legs wrapped about yet other limbs, despite our individual coffins. And arms and fingers, intertwined. That’s how I stumbled onto Nixie. What was left of her was propped up underneath another girl so that it was hard to tell where one began and the other finished. They had been baked together by the fire. My sister sat there, looking so nonchalant, without fear, without the slightest trepidation. I caught her eye, and I could feel her smile.

"The Unresolved scores on several levels, most notably as a drama that blows apart all preconceived notions of how history can be retold. Mallory is a very engaging protagonist, both alive and dead, but it is as she evolves as a ghost that she will truly resonate with readers. Equal parts naïve and determined, eventually she becomes a force to be reckoned with and the true face of an avenging ghostly angel."

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