The Night Tourist

There is an outlet mall that feels like a ghost town on the way to Jekyll Island from Savannah,Ga.  I like to stop there because they have a Gap store and I always find jeans that fit me.  This year one of the store fronts had be taken over by a discount book retailer.  Elated by the discovery, I headed right to the hardback books for kids and young adult.  They were priced 4 for $15.  I found Odd and the Frost Giant by Neil Gaiman, a few of the Redwall books my son needed for his collection and a copy of The Night Tourist by Kathrine March.

I was pleased with my haul.  Hardbacks can be hard to find, as they quickly go out of print in favor of the more affordable paperback versions.  The Night Tourist is a book I have been longing to add to my own collection.  Jack Perdu, the book's protagonist, is an exaggerated caricature of my son--smart, introverted and usually found with his nose in a book.  While reading a book, Metamorphoses in Latin, in the middle of a cross walk, Jack is struck by a car.  It is a nearly fatal accident.  His father sends him to a doctor in New York City to be examined.

This trip sets off a series of events that are exciting and mysterious.  He makes an unexpected acquaintance at Grand Central station and with her explores parts of New York City he never imagined existed.  After meeting Euri, who is a ghost, Jack is convinced he can locate his dead mother and be reunited.  If you or your reader find this book as interesting as I did, you may want to try the sequel, The Twilight Prisoner.