Chase

I wish I had written this book! It grabbed me from page one and kept me breathless throughout. The story, a boy caught in an Irish Union workerss' intrigue in post-Civil War coal country, hunted by a man on a scent tracking horse, is original and gripping. The development and growth of the character, Phin, is great. Susan Williams Beckhorn Wind Rider, Harper Collins 2006

Phin Chase has gone from being an orphan that no one really wants to being someone that a lot of dangerous people want to find. Phin has witnessed a murder by the Sleepers, otherwise known as the Molly Maguires or the Ancient Order of Hibernians. Whatever you call them, they run most Irish immigrant towns, and you don't want to be on their bad side. In fact, most people try to avoid them all together. Now they're looking for Phin. And the more he finds out about them, the more he realizes there is no one he can trust. He's never missed his mother so much or felt so very alone. The only logical thing Phin can think of to do is run. So run he does. But he seems to keep running directly into the hands of two men. Both men are definitely dangerous -- one wants to hurt Phin, but the other is debatable. Sometimes Phin thinks he could trust him, even be helped by him, but then there are times that Phin is sure he's at least as dangerous as the first man. How long can one young boy hold out against an entire underground militia and a horse that can track his scent? CHASE is a great adventure story, set in the midst of real history. It's exciting and interesting and fully believable. Phin Chase is a great hero; he's unsure, he makes mistakes, he has a multitude of narrow escapes. Right up until the very end you're not sure if or how he'll escape. Page-turning, edge-of-your-seat adventure with an interesting cast of characters, set during a real time in the history of our country. Definitely a great choice for a good regular read, or a way to make a book report more interesting! Reviewed by: Carrie Spellman

Chase -by Jessie Haas gr 4-9 Set in a Pennsylvania coal mining town in the 1870's, young Phin Chase has just witnessed a murder. He's reading a borrowed book on Englebright's front porch when several men from the mine who have a grievance with Englebright, kill him.. Instead of killing Phin too, they decide to pin the murder on him. He can't stay in town. If he does, he will be tried and convicted, because who will believe the story of an orphaned boy against respectable men from the town? So he runs. On the way, a friend gives him the killer's wallet to return to him, but Phin can't do that. He knows he'll be caught and brought to the jail. So he runs, with the wallet. It has enough money to help him get far away. If only he can. He manages to hop a train out of town, but there is a mysterious stranger hot on his trail; a mule trader who keeps showing up in town. Really a mule trader? And if not, then who is this man and his magnificient black stallion who never seem to be more than a stone's throw from Phin and his hiding places. Phin ends up leaving town in the same car as the mule trader and the killer, Ned Plume, who is also looking for the boy, because he wants his wallet back. Phin leads them on an intense chase, suffering all manner of ills and chills, hunger and bruises while running for his life. Eventually, a regretful confrontation comes to bear bewteen Phin and the mule trader, exposing the man's true identity and his reasons for hunting Phin. But these reasons are not the same as Ned Plumes, and Phin still has one more person to face before he can think about ending his flight. This books is a real page turner. Beautifully written in terse prose that keeps the tension high and the questions present until the last possible moments, this book is well worth the read. In addition to being that great kind of historical fiction that makes you want to know more about the period, it also makes you want to stay with Phinn, keeps you rooting for him all the way, and does not disppoint in the end.