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Dark Shade
Why has Kip McLean changed so much this summer? Shy, sixteen-year-old Maggie Gilmour can't figure it out. And why does he so often go up the wooded mountain on the outskirts of the small Pennsylvanian town they live in? Maggie decides to follow Kip one day. What Kip -- and now Maggie -- has found is a way back to the past, to 1758 when British soldiers are cutting a road through the dense, primeval forest -- the Dark Shade -- to attack French-held Fort Duquesne. The only other inhabitants are a band of Lenape Indians -- and Kip has decided to stay back in time as an adopted Lenape. Can Maggie save him from tampering with the events of history? As this gripping story unfolds, readers will follow Maggie's extraordinary adventures with bated breath.
- GenresFantasyTime Travel
176 pages, Hardcover
First published April 1, 1998
24 people want to read
About the author
Jane Louise Curry
39 books30 followersJane Louise Curry was born in East Liverpool, Ohio, on September 24, 1932. She is the daughter of William Jack Curry Jr. and Helen Margaret Curry. Curry grew up in Pennsylvania (Kittanning and Johnstown), but upon her graduation from college she moved to Los Angeles, California, and London, England.
Curry attended the Pennsylvania State University in 1950, and she studied there until 1951 when she left for the Indiana State College (now known as Indiana University of Pennsylvania). In 1954, after graduation, Curry moved to California and worked as both an art teacher for the Los Angeles Public School District and a freelance artist. In 1957, Curry entered the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) in order to study English literature, but in 1959 she left Los Angeles and became a teaching assistant at Stanford University. Curry was awarded the Fulbright grant in 1961 and the Stanford-Leverhulme fellowship in 1965, allowing her to pursue her graduate studies at the University of London. She earned her M.A. in 1962 and her Ph.D. in medieval English literature from Stanford University in 1969. From 1967-1968 and, again, from 1983-1984, Curry was an instructor of English literature at the college level. She became a lecturer in 1987. Besides her writings, Curry’s artworks are also considered among her achievements. She has had several paintings exhibited in London, and her works have even earned her a spot in the prestigious Royal Society of British Artists group exhibition. Among the many groups that Curry belongs to are the International Arthurian Society, the Authors Guild, the Children’s Literature Association, and the Society of Children’s Book Writers.
Curry illustrated and published her first book Down from the Lonely Mountain in 1965. This juvenile fiction based on Californian Native American folklore has paved the way for Curry’s expansive literary career. She has penned more than 30 novels, which are mostly based on child characters dealing with a wide variety of subjects. Many of Curry’s writings deal with folklore, such as the Native American folklore that she explores in her novels Turtle Island: Tales of Algonquian Nations and The Wonderful Sky Boat: And Other Native American Tales of the Southeast, and the retellings of famous European folk stories, such as Robin Hood and his Merry Men, Robin Hood in the Greenwood, and The Christmas Knight. Yet she also delves into the genres of fantasy, such as in her novels Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Time and Me, Myself, and I; historical fiction, such as in her novels What the Dickens and Stolen Life; and mystery, such as in her novels The Bassumtyte Treasure and Moon Window.
Curry has been honored with many awards throughout her writing career. In 1970, her novel The Daybreakers earned Curry the Honor Book award from the Book World Spring Children’s Book Festival and the Outstanding Book by a Southern California Author Award from the Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People. The Mystery Writers of America honored Curry two years in a row by awarding her the Edgar Allan Poe Award, or the Edgar, for Poor Tom’s Ghost in 1978 and The Bassumtyte Treasure in 1979. Also in 1979, for her complete body of work at that time, the Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People presented Curry with the Distingushed Contribution to the Field of Children’s Literature Award.
Curry resides in Palo Alto, California, and London, England.
Curry attended the Pennsylvania State University in 1950, and she studied there until 1951 when she left for the Indiana State College (now known as Indiana University of Pennsylvania). In 1954, after graduation, Curry moved to California and worked as both an art teacher for the Los Angeles Public School District and a freelance artist. In 1957, Curry entered the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) in order to study English literature, but in 1959 she left Los Angeles and became a teaching assistant at Stanford University. Curry was awarded the Fulbright grant in 1961 and the Stanford-Leverhulme fellowship in 1965, allowing her to pursue her graduate studies at the University of London. She earned her M.A. in 1962 and her Ph.D. in medieval English literature from Stanford University in 1969. From 1967-1968 and, again, from 1983-1984, Curry was an instructor of English literature at the college level. She became a lecturer in 1987. Besides her writings, Curry’s artworks are also considered among her achievements. She has had several paintings exhibited in London, and her works have even earned her a spot in the prestigious Royal Society of British Artists group exhibition. Among the many groups that Curry belongs to are the International Arthurian Society, the Authors Guild, the Children’s Literature Association, and the Society of Children’s Book Writers.
Curry illustrated and published her first book Down from the Lonely Mountain in 1965. This juvenile fiction based on Californian Native American folklore has paved the way for Curry’s expansive literary career. She has penned more than 30 novels, which are mostly based on child characters dealing with a wide variety of subjects. Many of Curry’s writings deal with folklore, such as the Native American folklore that she explores in her novels Turtle Island: Tales of Algonquian Nations and The Wonderful Sky Boat: And Other Native American Tales of the Southeast, and the retellings of famous European folk stories, such as Robin Hood and his Merry Men, Robin Hood in the Greenwood, and The Christmas Knight. Yet she also delves into the genres of fantasy, such as in her novels Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Time and Me, Myself, and I; historical fiction, such as in her novels What the Dickens and Stolen Life; and mystery, such as in her novels The Bassumtyte Treasure and Moon Window.
Curry has been honored with many awards throughout her writing career. In 1970, her novel The Daybreakers earned Curry the Honor Book award from the Book World Spring Children’s Book Festival and the Outstanding Book by a Southern California Author Award from the Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People. The Mystery Writers of America honored Curry two years in a row by awarding her the Edgar Allan Poe Award, or the Edgar, for Poor Tom’s Ghost in 1978 and The Bassumtyte Treasure in 1979. Also in 1979, for her complete body of work at that time, the Southern California Council on Literature for Children and Young People presented Curry with the Distingushed Contribution to the Field of Children’s Literature Award.
Curry resides in Palo Alto, California, and London, England.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 16, 2011
Maggie, an introverted sixteen year old is having trouble with friends. She runs in at the last minute for class and is the first to leave. But Maggie’s trouble is nothing compared to her old friend Kip, badly burned from a fire that killed his parents who doesn’t talk to anyone. When Maggie follows him one day into the woods she discovers he has been traveling into the past to the French and Indian War. This book gives tremendous and accurate insight into the lives of people during the French and Indian war. First the lives of an Irish foot soldier and then the lives of native American tribes in Pennsylvania at the time. Though lacking in action for most of the book Curry’s portrayal of the time period is spot on. We wonder about the complicated relationship between Maggie and Kip as she works to maintain his safety and hers in both the past and present.
December 19, 2011
A wonderful book to introduce history to students. It keeps you going to the end, and it keeps you thinking constantly.
February 6, 2011
Not as much F&I War content as I wanted but fairly interesting over all. Modern teen follows a friend & finds he has been slipping through to another time- 1758 -when British troops are cutting a road through the Pennsylvania wilderness to attack the French at Ft Duquesne. While there is one injured Scots soldier featured, the past segments focus more on the Lenape (Delaware) Indians who have a village in the area and are not happy that the whites have come forcing them to move on once again.
Maggie, the teen, is very concerned that her actions or lack of action in the past could impact the future (her own time) so there is information about researching family history for clues to the past. Another storyline is about the friend, Kip, who had been badly burned in a house fire that killed his parents. He feels isolated by relatives and friends who won't discuss the tragedy for fear of "upsetting" him when all he wants is to talk out his feelings to someone who sees HIM and not just his burn scars. With the Indians in the past he finds acceptance and comfort but if he stays what becomes of the future?
I enjoyed the strange time-portal which has the teens climbing up a rock face from which a new stream has appeared only to find themselves emerging into a forest pool in another time in a dense virgin forest. To return home they step into the pool and down into their own time. Cool.
This was pulled from the library collection for potential weeding. While it appealed to my own interests and I thought it was OK I don't see it being something many teens would pick up so I guess I will approve discarding it. The cover is rather dismal and nondescript, too.
Maggie, the teen, is very concerned that her actions or lack of action in the past could impact the future (her own time) so there is information about researching family history for clues to the past. Another storyline is about the friend, Kip, who had been badly burned in a house fire that killed his parents. He feels isolated by relatives and friends who won't discuss the tragedy for fear of "upsetting" him when all he wants is to talk out his feelings to someone who sees HIM and not just his burn scars. With the Indians in the past he finds acceptance and comfort but if he stays what becomes of the future?
I enjoyed the strange time-portal which has the teens climbing up a rock face from which a new stream has appeared only to find themselves emerging into a forest pool in another time in a dense virgin forest. To return home they step into the pool and down into their own time. Cool.
This was pulled from the library collection for potential weeding. While it appealed to my own interests and I thought it was OK I don't see it being something many teens would pick up so I guess I will approve discarding it. The cover is rather dismal and nondescript, too.
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October 8, 2007Curry, Jane L.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews