The Blackmail Machine

by Felice Holman

Five children, a farmer, and a dispossessed lady form a secret society, mobilize themselves in their motorized flying treehouse, and try to change the world.

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1968

About the author

Felice Holman was born October 24, 1919, in New York City. She graduated from Syracuse University in 1941 and later worked as an advertising copywriter. She married Herbert Valen in 1941 and some of the experiences of their daughter, Nanine Elisabeth Valen, would serve as the model for her first book, Elisabeth, The Bird Watcher, which was published in 1963.

During the 1960s, she published two more "Elisabeth" stories and wrote some humorous books for children. In 1970, she published her first book of poetry for children: At the Top of My Voice. Critics praised the poems for their "originality, humor, and point." She continued to write humorous stories for young readers, including The Escape of the Giant Hogstalk (1974) that critics called filled "with giggles interspersed with horse laughs all the way."

In the 1970s, she also began writing realistic fiction for young adults. Her book Slake's Limbo (1974), the story of a boy who lives in a cave below Grand Central Station, was lauded for its "authenticity of detail" and as "remarkably taut" and "convincing." In 1975, she co-wrote The Drac: French Tales of Dragons and Demons, a collection of French legends with her daughter, Nanine Valen.

Throughout her long and prolific career, Felice Holman has received several honors, including a Lewis Carroll Shelf Award for young adult's literature and an American Library Association notable book citation for Slake's Limbo in 1978. Felice lives in California.

Reviews

[Sharon Buxton · Rating 4 out of 5]

B. fiction, children's fiction, grade5, fantasy, making a difference, from stash, keep

[Mary]

I am not a teenager, that may be the reason i couldn't grasp those child characters. it can be time pass read for children below 15.