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Cold Midnight
For high school freshman Claire Benedict, the pressures of home and school are huge -- her father is home from the Great War now that it's 1921, but he's too depressed to work, her mother is furious at still supporting the family, Claire's friends have stepped aside, and teachers pick on her for her family background. So climbing the downtown roofs at night gives her a world of her own, free and wide-ranging. To her surprise, there's another night Ben Riley, looking for a miracle. When the two of them witness both an arsonist and a late-night poker game that ends in murder, their sleuthing turns risky. Skills alone won't get them through the dangers that lie ahead"--The author's blog. Kanell uses the real murder of St. Johnsbury resident Sam Wah (1846-1921) in her story, who came to the Vermont town from China in 1886 and set up a laundry.
215 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
18 people want to read
About the author
Beth Kanell
10 books41 followersABOUT ME
Storytelling is Beth Kanell's native language - and she learned it from her mother, who taught her to fill in the blanks as a story emerged. As a single parent in Vermont, for years she told stories "on the side" and developed a specialty in tales for teens (always starting with something scary!). Endlessly in love with Vermont, she began bringing the most fascinating parts of its history into her narratives, and discovered that what she really likes after all is writing fiction that explores the lives of young people caught up in the force of change. She is also a non-stop mystery reader, so she grapples for new and unusual plot twists, as well as the magic of the Green Mountain state.
ABOUT MY WORK
Beth Kanell's first Vermont historical novel THE DARKNESS UNDER THE WATER began as a form of ghost story and got scarier. Along with years of historical prowling for the book, Beth relied on family narratives from the residents of small Vermont towns like Waterford, St. Johnsbury, West Barnet, Barnet, Peacham, and Danville. She loved re-discovering the days of log drives on the Connecticut River. Recently she's been digging into how people washed dishes in 1850, why there are so many fires in small towns, and Vermont's unsolved murders. She writes as if she were braiding: one strand for the flow of history, one for the controversies involved, and the biggest strand, of course, for the characters who take over her inner life. She outlines on brown paper pinned to the walls of her small writing room, and depends on chocolate, candles, and music to get her through.
THREE THINGS YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME:
Storytelling is Beth Kanell's native language - and she learned it from her mother, who taught her to fill in the blanks as a story emerged. As a single parent in Vermont, for years she told stories "on the side" and developed a specialty in tales for teens (always starting with something scary!). Endlessly in love with Vermont, she began bringing the most fascinating parts of its history into her narratives, and discovered that what she really likes after all is writing fiction that explores the lives of young people caught up in the force of change. She is also a non-stop mystery reader, so she grapples for new and unusual plot twists, as well as the magic of the Green Mountain state.
ABOUT MY WORK
Beth Kanell's first Vermont historical novel THE DARKNESS UNDER THE WATER began as a form of ghost story and got scarier. Along with years of historical prowling for the book, Beth relied on family narratives from the residents of small Vermont towns like Waterford, St. Johnsbury, West Barnet, Barnet, Peacham, and Danville. She loved re-discovering the days of log drives on the Connecticut River. Recently she's been digging into how people washed dishes in 1850, why there are so many fires in small towns, and Vermont's unsolved murders. She writes as if she were braiding: one strand for the flow of history, one for the controversies involved, and the biggest strand, of course, for the characters who take over her inner life. She outlines on brown paper pinned to the walls of her small writing room, and depends on chocolate, candles, and music to get her through.
THREE THINGS YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT ME:
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 26, 2012
Set just after World War I, Beth Kanell's third historical novel, COLD MIDNIGHT, presents two teenagers from St.Johnsbury, Vermont, who become friends and discover the secrets behind a rash of arson and a murder (the historical fact which inspired the novel). As in THE DARKNESS UNDER THE WATER and THE SECRET ROOM, Kanell weaves a story that combines the innocence of the young adult perspective with the darker side of the human spirit which the teen is forced to recognize and accept, while still retaining hope and courage.
In the afterward, Kanell gives us the historical facts upon which the novel was based, and it is clear that this work has employed far more imagination and less reliance on history than her previous work. Her two protagonists, Claire Benedict (daughter of a shell-shocked WWI vet and his patient wife) and Ben Riley (son of a cook and an unknown father - possibly prominent), come together to attempt to solve some arson cases and manage to observe a scene just before a murder takes place. Kanell loves mystery and detective fiction, and this is quite evident in the work. At the same time, she has deep empathy and understanding of young adults, trying to find themselves in the world, tentative with expressions of affection, and always empowered and worthy.
While this novel ends with a "deus ex machina" kind of speed, it's a satisfying ending and is worthy, along with the other two, as reading for young adult readers or middle school classes. And for all of us, Kanell knows how to show the effects of historical events on the people who are living in them. My own grandfather returned from WWI as a shell of himself, and in Claire's father Robert, I heard echoes of him. Kanell deals with darkness, but she is never dark in the perspective she leaves us.
In the afterward, Kanell gives us the historical facts upon which the novel was based, and it is clear that this work has employed far more imagination and less reliance on history than her previous work. Her two protagonists, Claire Benedict (daughter of a shell-shocked WWI vet and his patient wife) and Ben Riley (son of a cook and an unknown father - possibly prominent), come together to attempt to solve some arson cases and manage to observe a scene just before a murder takes place. Kanell loves mystery and detective fiction, and this is quite evident in the work. At the same time, she has deep empathy and understanding of young adults, trying to find themselves in the world, tentative with expressions of affection, and always empowered and worthy.
While this novel ends with a "deus ex machina" kind of speed, it's a satisfying ending and is worthy, along with the other two, as reading for young adult readers or middle school classes. And for all of us, Kanell knows how to show the effects of historical events on the people who are living in them. My own grandfather returned from WWI as a shell of himself, and in Claire's father Robert, I heard echoes of him. Kanell deals with darkness, but she is never dark in the perspective she leaves us.
January 22, 2013
Cold Midnight is a YA mystery/adventure set in St. Johnsbury, Vermont in 1921. It involves two delightful and adventuresome youngsters who witness clues to arson and murder invisible to their elders. I enjoyed how Beth Kanell imbued this coming of age story with history, wonder and innocence.
July 5, 2018
A well written, for some, wishful thinking romp of a young teen, Claire, in 1921, who loves to escape from her tenement building at night to climb the roofs of the splendid Victorian town of St. Johnsbury, VT. As a kid who did the same sneaking out at night, to go play in the fields (the only tall building in my town was the grain elevator) I immediately saw that this was not folly, but could easily be true. The division of social classes, and religion, was also very reminiscent of my childhood 3 decades later, so when French Protestant Claire meets a fellow climber, an Irish Catholic boy, there is the additional touch of blooming adolescence with the adventure. The two begin a climber's bond which is suddenly elevated by the witness of a murder--of the only Chinese in town. All social classes clash, along with politics and justice, as Kanell weaves a delightful, gripping tale, mixing all these elements with a detective story. I loved it, and now walk the streets, seeing my town from above, as well as below.
July 29, 2015
Categories/Genres: Middle Level Historical Fiction
Estimate of Age Level of Interest: 5-8
Estimate of Reading Level: NA
Brief Description:
A student at St. Johnsbury Academy by day, Claire slips out at night to climb to the roofs of town to get away from her father’s depression and her mother’s grief. She meets a boy who attends the Catholic school, who sets himself a goal to climb the steeple of every church in town. There are seven. Together they happen upon a card game, and the murder of a Chinese man. They set out to solve the murder and the setting of multiple fires. In the process they learn some things about their quiet, respectable northern Vermont town in the 1920s.
Two Characteristics of the Genre and How They Appear in the Book: 1) The characters personalize the history of the period and location. We see how the war impacts Claire’s family, how attitudes about Catholics and Irish immigration affects Ben’s, and how Prohibition creates a seedy underground world inhabited by the Chinese laundry man, and even some of the “upstanding” members of the town. Claire is realistically cast, and satisfyingly capable and feisty for a modern audience, while her mother’s character illustrates all the ways women were kept down, even in the age of women’s suffrage.
2) Accurate Place and Time. Beth Kanell extensively researches her subject before beginning to write. The accurate historical and physical details are finely drawn. To get it right, Ms. Kanell seeks out the elders in our community and asks them about their childhoods. She visits town clerk’s offices and historical societies. She is an acknowledged local history enthusiast and has a nose for a good story that has been left untold. Fact and fiction blend together to create an exciting, suspenseful, true-to-history tale of WWI veterans, local fires, the town benefactor, and an actual unsolved murder from the 1920s in St. Johnsbury.
How the Book Serves its Intended Audience: When neighbor/author Beth Kanell visited our school this spring, she talked about local history, the stories behind the stories, and her writing process. This experience got many of our students excited about writing their own family stories and taking a deeper look at the history in their own community. The book is full of the familiar sights and sounds of nearby St. Johnsbury decades ago, giving readers a vivid sense of how life used to be.
Awards: NA
Review from Nancy Means Wright, Amazon.com:
“For me, Cold Midnight is a novel rich in atmosphere. The late fall setting is virtually a character in the book: a Vermont railroad town in post-WW1--a cruel war that has left gassed survivors like Claire Benedict's father unable to work, and his exhausted wife laboring in a mill...Cold Midnight is (paradoxically) a warm and beautifully written tale of two idealistic young persons who struggle not only to bring a fire setter/killer to justice, but to create peace and reparation within their own dysfunctional families. I really love this book!”
Estimate of Age Level of Interest: 5-8
Estimate of Reading Level: NA
Brief Description:
A student at St. Johnsbury Academy by day, Claire slips out at night to climb to the roofs of town to get away from her father’s depression and her mother’s grief. She meets a boy who attends the Catholic school, who sets himself a goal to climb the steeple of every church in town. There are seven. Together they happen upon a card game, and the murder of a Chinese man. They set out to solve the murder and the setting of multiple fires. In the process they learn some things about their quiet, respectable northern Vermont town in the 1920s.
Two Characteristics of the Genre and How They Appear in the Book: 1) The characters personalize the history of the period and location. We see how the war impacts Claire’s family, how attitudes about Catholics and Irish immigration affects Ben’s, and how Prohibition creates a seedy underground world inhabited by the Chinese laundry man, and even some of the “upstanding” members of the town. Claire is realistically cast, and satisfyingly capable and feisty for a modern audience, while her mother’s character illustrates all the ways women were kept down, even in the age of women’s suffrage.
2) Accurate Place and Time. Beth Kanell extensively researches her subject before beginning to write. The accurate historical and physical details are finely drawn. To get it right, Ms. Kanell seeks out the elders in our community and asks them about their childhoods. She visits town clerk’s offices and historical societies. She is an acknowledged local history enthusiast and has a nose for a good story that has been left untold. Fact and fiction blend together to create an exciting, suspenseful, true-to-history tale of WWI veterans, local fires, the town benefactor, and an actual unsolved murder from the 1920s in St. Johnsbury.
How the Book Serves its Intended Audience: When neighbor/author Beth Kanell visited our school this spring, she talked about local history, the stories behind the stories, and her writing process. This experience got many of our students excited about writing their own family stories and taking a deeper look at the history in their own community. The book is full of the familiar sights and sounds of nearby St. Johnsbury decades ago, giving readers a vivid sense of how life used to be.
Awards: NA
Review from Nancy Means Wright, Amazon.com:
“For me, Cold Midnight is a novel rich in atmosphere. The late fall setting is virtually a character in the book: a Vermont railroad town in post-WW1--a cruel war that has left gassed survivors like Claire Benedict's father unable to work, and his exhausted wife laboring in a mill...Cold Midnight is (paradoxically) a warm and beautifully written tale of two idealistic young persons who struggle not only to bring a fire setter/killer to justice, but to create peace and reparation within their own dysfunctional families. I really love this book!”
December 5, 2013
This exciting YA set in the roaring 20's was a great read. The setting descriptions were so vivid that I could picture myself as Claire or Ben, adventuring over rooftops in the dark. Good story arc and finish and love that it's loosely based on real events.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews