The Night Tourist

Module 5, SLIS 5420

Summary

Jack Perdu is a high school student who is a wiz at Latin, but does not have friends. He lives with his father, a professor, on the Yale campus. His mother died in an accident involving a collapsed scaffold. He is hit by a car and begins to see and hear extraordinary things. After finding his mother's name scrawled on an old map dropped by a man who then jumps out of a window, Jack finds himself examined by a strange doctor. Jack steals a golden token from his office but has no idea why he has done this. Killing time in the train station while waiting for his train home from the doctor's appointment, he befriends a girl his age who wants to show him some of the secrets of the train station. It turns out that his new friend, Euri, is a ghost, and she has brought him to the world of the dead underneath New York. His stolen token has granted him passage into this strange world. He and Euri begin to search for his mother, as she may still be there if she has not yet passed on to the Elysium, the realm of eternal peace.

Jack learns that he has only 3 nights in the underworld to find his mother. If he does not leave by then, he will have to stay forever. He and Euri must dodge the 3-headed dog Cerberus and his handlers, whose job is to protect the underworld from invasion by the living. Jack has some close scrapes with the "law", but he eventually finds his mother and learns the truth about her past and why she is still in the underworld. He has also learned Euri's secrets and he longs to get back to the world of the living and bring her with him. Can he succeed?

Bibliographic Information

Marsh, Katherine. The Night Tourist. Hyperion Books for Children, 2007. ISBN: 978-1-4231-0689-0

My Thoughts

This fantasy novel includes a well-thought-out world, the New York underground inhabited by the spirits of the dead. They have many freedoms, but there are also rules to their existence. For instance, they can only come out and visit the city above during the night. They cannot fly over water, etc. Many of the ghosts "haunt" sites that were important to them in life, keeping up with the goings on of their loved ones. Others attend entertainments like an NBA basketball game or a performance of The Producers, hovering high above the living spectators and performers. Jack experiences a great deal of confusion in this new world, and comes to rely on experienced ghosts like Euri and her friends. He also begins to see this experience as paralleling that of the tale of Orpheus, who in mythology visits the underworld to rescue his lost love. There is a great deal in this story that would appeal to young readers. Jack is on a quest, devoid of parental guidance, to try and find, and perhaps return with, his mother. He learns about the importance of friendship and perhaps finds his first love, though in a rather odd place. Finally, Jack learns of responsibility. Only he has the power to return Euri to the land of the living. He also has a responsibility to return to his father in the land of the living and let him know about the fate of his mother.

Reviews

Gr 7 Up-Jack Perdue, a prodigy, lives with his father on the Yale campus where he buries himself in classical literature. When an accident leaves Jack with a head injury, his father sends him to a very strange doctor in New York. Jack has not been to New York since his mother died and he and his dad moved to New Haven. In Grand Central Station, Jack takes a tour and meets a girl named Euri who suggests that he might want to see the underground station-places that the public never get to see. So begins the adventure into the underworld of ghosts as he searches for his mother and learns about her mysterious life and death. Adventure abounds as Jack and Euri visit with deceased authors and constantly avoid the ghost police with a three-headed dog looking for anyone who might be "living." Along the way, Jack discovers some truths about Euri, himself, and his father. Actor Andrew Rannels narrates and provides a realistic voice for each character. Harry Potter fans will enjoy this fantasy (Hyperion, 2007) by Katherine Marsh.
Actkinson, Jeana. School Library Journal. February 1, 2008.

Ninth-grader Jack lives with his father on the campus of Yale University. He is a Classics scholar who does not quite fit in with the other students in his class. After a near-fatal accident, Jack is sent to see a doctor in New York, the place where is mother died eight years ago. Jack meets a girl, Euri, who offers to show him the secret places in Grand Central Station. As she takes him down to the lowest levels, he discovers that they are in the underworld and that Euri is a ghost. Jack believes that it is his chance to see his mother again, but he only has three nights to find her before he must leave, all the while being chased by Cerberus, the three-headed dog who guards the underworld. Jack resolves his feelings of abandonment and helps Euri to realize that her family misses her. This quick read holds the reader's attention. Jack and Euri are likeable teens, trying to figure out where they fit into their worlds. Engaging characters such as Professor Schmitt, another Classics scholar, and poet Ruthven Todd help them in their quest to find Jack's mother and hide them from Cerberus. Marsh creates an interesting alternate world. Students who know classical mythology will understand and enjoy the allusions in the story. This unusual ghost story will appeal on many levels.
Dubois, Deborah L. Voice of Youth Advocates. December 1, 2007.

Awards

Edgar Allan Poe Awards: Best Juvenile Mystery Novel

Suggestions for Use in Library

This would be a good introduction to fantasy for students who are reluctant to test this genre. It is rooted in the real, contemporary world, with Jack visiting a new existence previously unknown to him. It might also serve as a good introduction to mythology, with readers/students following up with the adventures of Orpheus and their depictions of the underworld.