Set amid the 1854 London cholera outbreak, Hopkinson's attention-grabbing story of Eel, an orphan who survives by combing the filthy banks of the Thames for anything he might sell, is a delightful combination of race-against-the-clock medical mystery and outwit-the-bad-guys adventure. Eel, a hardworking and bighearted kid with no shortage of crummy luck, is being hunted by a notoriously mean crook, who happens to be his stepfather. When the first cholera case hits, the town blames the polluted air, but Eel and his mentor, Dr. Snow, have a different theory-that it's being spread through a local water pump-which they set out to prove before the death toll escalates further. Hopkinson (Titanic: Voices from the Disaster) adeptly recreates the crowded, infested streets of London, but it's her distinct, layered characters and turbulent, yet believable plot that make this a captivating read. As the deadly disease worsens, Dr. Snow and Eel's deadline looms, and Eel's past closes in on him, readers will feel the same sense of urgency-and excitement-as the characters themselves. Ages 10-up. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Equal parts medical mystery, historical novel, and survival story about the 1854 London cholera outbreak, this introduces Eel, a boy trying to make ends meet on Broad Street. When he visits one of his regular employers, he learns the man has fallen ill. Eel enlists the help of Dr. Snow, and together they work to solve the mystery of what exactly is causing the spread of cholera and how they can prevent it. Steeped in rich fact and detailed explanations about laboratory research, Hopkinson's book uses a fictional story to teach readers about science, medicine, and history and works in a few real-life characters, too. Eel serves as a peek into the lower class of London society and offers readers a way to observe and, hopefully, ask questions about the scientific method. An author's note provides readers with a look at the real story behind the novel, making this a great choice for introducing readers to science and history.--Thompson, Sarah Bean Copyright 2010 Booklist

A scrawny 12-year-old orphan named Eel changes history when he helps famous epidemiologist Dr. John Snow identify the source of a cholera outbreak in the streets of 1854 London. It's a vile summer in the city: "hot in a thick, wet sort of way, as if the sun were a giant who'd aimed his moist, stinky breath on us all." Chillingly, the Broad Street pump, popular for its cleaner-tasting water, is dispensing cholera with every push of the handle. The Broad Street pump story is a true one, and Hopkinson methodically chronicles the role of Dr. Snow in linking the "blue death" to London's water supply. It's impossible not to like the fictional Eel, who tells the tale in journal form from a first-person point of view, with a convincingly childcentric focus on lovable pets, lemon ice, trust and justice. Eel is a hard-edged softie who rescues drowning cats, tends to Dr. Snow's test animals, hides his little brother from their malevolent stepfather at great personal cost and ultimately helps solve the cholera mystery. Rough types such as Thumbless Jake and Nasty Ned pop up like cartoon villains, but Eel proves too slippery for them, and plenty of best-of-times goodness shines from the murk. A solid, somber dramatization of a real-life medical mystery. (epilogue, author's note, timeline, bibliography, acknowledgments) (Historical fiction. 9-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Gr 5-8-Hopkinson's historical novel (Knopf, 2013) transports listeners to 1854 London at the time of the famous Broad Street pump cholera epidemic. Fictional and real characters and events are adeptly mixed to create an informative and gripping tale. The main character is the titular "boy called Eel," a likable orphan working odd jobs to take care of his little brother and keep them out of the work houses and the clutches of Fisheye Bill Tyler. Dr. John Snow, the real-life doctor who traced the cause of the outbreak, is introduced when Eel asks for the prominent doctor's help with "The Great Trouble." Keeping in mind Snow's controversial theory about the spread of the disease, Eel and the doctor work together to gather evidence from affected families and convince the town committee to shut off the Broad Street pump. The author successfully conveys the race against time as the "blue death" spreads rapidly, killing more than 600 people before Snow and Eel can stop it. Matthew Frow does a wonderful job of recreating the distinct accents that existed among Londoners and their various stations, although Eel's accent is so thick that he can be difficult to understand. Historical notes, read by Kimberly Farr, will satisfy listeners whose curiosity has been piqued. Hand this novel to fans of The Apprenticeship of Lucas Whitaker by Cynthia DeFelice and Fever 1793 by Laurie Halse Anderson.-Terri Norstrom, Cary Area Library, IL (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Thirteen-year-old Eel is a mudlark, gleaning and selling bits of rope, rags, and coal from the grimy River Thames. Ever the entrepreneur, he also sweeps Mr. Griggss tailor shop and cleans the cages and feeds the pets at Dr. Snows house, and now hes loading bodies into coffins and coffins onto carts, as the Blue Deathcholerahas hit London. A parallel plot line involves a secret Eel is keeping and a mysterious stranger named Fisheye Bill Taylor, who may just get Eel if the Blue Death doesnt. Hopkinson constructs a historical novel of true Dickensian fashion, with vivid descriptions of Victorian Londons filthy Thames, foul air, and sickly-looking skiesa city ripe for a plague. And like a good Dickensian tale, Eels story contains twists and turns, an accumulation of odd coincidences, and an earnest protagonist readers will root for. Two characters, Dr. Snow and Reverend Whitehead, were real-life players in the cholera epidemic, and fictional Eel helps Dr. Snow prove that cholera was caused not by foul air but by the contaminated water from the local water pump. An authors note provides background on cholera and Dr. Snows research. dean schneider (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.