How the Hangman Lost His Heart

Grant, K. How the Hangman Lost his Heart. Walker & Company. 2006. This book is great fun to read. Alice rescues her Uncle Frank's head from a pike atop Temple Bar (London, 1746) and that effort unleashes a hilarious chain of events that will keep children chortling through to the conclusion. Dan "the Hangman" Skinslicer says to Alice after the execution, "the good news is that he (King George) only wants your uncle's head, so you'll get a whole body to take home, which is nice. Sometimes traitors are hacked into four bits, you know and sent off to different towns." After the head is stuck onto a pike, Dan tells her to "rearrange the colonel's hair. I don't expect he'd like to look a mess." By the time Alice is escaping with her uncle's head, she has involved not only Dan but also a Captain Hew Ffrench who despite the fact that he is scared of heights climbs to capture Alice as she perches on the Temple Bar egged on by the nasty leader of his Lighthorse Troop, Major Slavering. The antics go on as Dan rescues Alice and her uncle's head and they careen out of town on a horse. Vivid actions and characters and keen humor combine in this entertaining caper. Recommend to children ages, 9-12.

What skill it takes to start with a family legend and turn it into a really good story. Especially when it's about an ancestor who was executed and the head handed down through the family for years. It's well-researched and doesn't contrive an unlikely wedding, even though the hangman does lose his heart. Very satisfying.