The first Eric Wilson book I read, Escape From Big Muddy, was in grade six. The kid who sat next to me raved about the book, then handed her copy over and told me to read it. I remember taking the book home and reading it in a night. Of course I read the 15th book first, but it was a great way to get myself into the series because the story was fast paced and involved the main character taking a road trip across Saskatchewan in order to solve a mystery. At the time, I remember being fascinated b The first Eric Wilson book I read, Escape From Big Muddy, was in grade six. The kid who sat next to me raved about the book, then handed her copy over and told me to read it. I remember taking the book home and reading it in a night.
Of course I read the 15th book first, but it was a great way to get myself into the series because the story was fast paced and involved the main character taking a road trip across Saskatchewan in order to solve a mystery. At the time, I remember being fascinated by these places and wanting to visit them when I was older.I recently decided to re-read the Tom and Liz Austen mysteries just for the heck of it. Except this time i'd go in order. Unfortunately, this book didn't capture my interest as it did then (of course I should've expected this).
Still, i'm disappointed. These books always made me feel nostalgic, but now i'm afraid re-reading them will ruin the series for me.
I think i'll still read my favourite ones though. I recently came across this novel amongst a pile of family photo albums and treasures. My mother put it there for safe keeping after I got it signed in fourth grade, along with the photo the librarian took of Wilson signing it on top of my head.I still remember how excited I was when Eric Wilson came to my school to do a reading and signing. It was probably one of the only good things to happen through my entire elementary school career. I was the only one my teacher allowed to get an autograph I recently came across this novel amongst a pile of family photo albums and treasures. My mother put it there for safe keeping after I got it signed in fourth grade, along with the photo the librarian took of Wilson signing it on top of my head.I still remember how excited I was when Eric Wilson came to my school to do a reading and signing. It was probably one of the only good things to happen through my entire elementary school career.
I was the only one my teacher allowed to get an autograph, simply because I'd brought my book. I remember some of the other children desperately wanting autographs as well, but the teacher refused to take them back to the library to get pieces of paper signed. I remember her getting angry when some of them started to cry.Ah, elementary school. Eric Wilson's work played a large role in my many literary escapes from it.
I adored and devoured every last mystery of Tom and Liz Austen. Along with Harry Potter, the Baudelaire orphans and every Goosebumps character then known to child-kind, the Austens were among my very favourite friends.I remember this one time, about a year after meeting Wilson, I was doing a book report on and was so immersed in the story that I did not notice Silent Reading Time come to an end, or the passing of the first twenty minutes of the subsequent work period.
I remember my teacher yelling, 'Um, HELLO?!' To which I coldly responded, 'Hi.'
And continued to read with the book shoved awkwardly below my desk.It's memories like this that make me miss childhood. Despite still maintaining my love of reading, I'm rarely ever able to fully submerge myself and forget all of the bad things going on around me like I could back then. So when I found this book and immediately decided to read it, you can imagine that I had high expectations.Murder on the Canadian is the first novel in the Tom Austen mystery series. It introduces us to young Tom Austen, a devout Hardy Boys fan and detective in training. Boarding the Canadian to visit his grandparents in British Columbia for the summer, Tom is in for a lot more than he may have originally expected. With a mysterious ticking package, the on-board murder of a beautiful ex-Hollywood actress and having to share a bunk with his annoying enemy Dietmar Oban, Tom is quick to jump through the hurdles and clues to solve the case.
But he might not uncover the killer until it's too late.I gave it a three star rating, not because I was disappointed, but because it was good. I'll keep it short and sweet, as I've already written a book here myself and say that more kids should read these books. Murder on the Canadian was exciting, gripping and made me smile with nostalgia. I found the sweetest little delight in remembering small parts of the story.
I will be looking for the rest of the books in the series to re-read as soon as possible, and fully recommend them to anyone who is interested in reading them. I was in elementary when Eric Wilson visited my tiny rural school. It was a oil town in Northern Alberta; I can still remember the waxy smell of the polished gymnasium floor. For months before the assembly we had been pressured to read and enjoy his books.
I wasn't all that thrilled with the book at the time, being more into books like 'Dracula Doesn't Drink Lemonade.' I remember that visit vividly and still think about it; this was the first time I had met an author. He shared a reading from a I was in elementary when Eric Wilson visited my tiny rural school. It was a oil town in Northern Alberta; I can still remember the waxy smell of the polished gymnasium floor.
For months before the assembly we had been pressured to read and enjoy his books. I wasn't all that thrilled with the book at the time, being more into books like 'Dracula Doesn't Drink Lemonade.' I remember that visit vividly and still think about it; this was the first time I had met an author.
He shared a reading from a book and talked to us about the struggles of trying to get published. Over and over his book was turned down by publishers! His students (he was a teacher at the time I believe) assured him that his writing was wonderful and encouraged him to continue trying. Finally someone green-lighted his story and he became an 'author'!
Wow!My mind was blown. I no longer wanted to be a witch when I grew up; I was going to be an author.Twenty years later I am a vaguely aspiring writer and still find that visit inspiring.
I was thrilled to find a 40th Anniversary Edition of 'Murder on the Canadian' at my local bookstore. This book drew me back to my childhood; the part where I was a kid forcing myself to get through the story.I read several of his books as a kid and I remember loving his later works like 'Vampire of Ottawa.' However, I've lost track of the number of times 'Hardy Boys' was referenced in this book and there are problems with the story. There are glaringly huge logistic problems. My final verdict is this edition of the book satisfied my nostalgic desire the same way that Popeye's candy sticks do: wonderful in theory but terrible and chalky once you bite into it.Once again, I appreciate Eric Wilson for inspiring Canadian youth to write.
Thank you for that. My daughter chose this book on which to do a book report. I had read it a long, long, long time ago and thought I'd read it again to help her where I could. I remember how much I enjoyed reading Eric Wilson books when I was her age. I have been fortunate to have traveled and lived all across Canada and as his books take place at famous locations in this country, it is fun to say 'oh, I've been there' when reading about it.My tastes have evolved since elementary school, but the books My daughter chose this book on which to do a book report.
I had read it a long, long, long time ago and thought I'd read it again to help her where I could. I remember how much I enjoyed reading Eric Wilson books when I was her age. I have been fortunate to have traveled and lived all across Canada and as his books take place at famous locations in this country, it is fun to say 'oh, I've been there' when reading about it.My tastes have evolved since elementary school, but the books are still fun, especially for kids in the 8-12 year old range. I spotted this rerelease of Murder on the Canadian and immediately had flashbacks to some enjoyable afternoons in my youth.
I used to love the Tom and Liz Austen mystery series! Stories like those from Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, but with Canadian siblings who explore various places in Canada?
It's so rare for Canadian kids to read stories happening in our country that it was exciting to see places that I could actually go or had been being featured. Plus the books tended to deal I spotted this rerelease of Murder on the Canadian and immediately had flashbacks to some enjoyable afternoons in my youth. I used to love the Tom and Liz Austen mystery series! Stories like those from Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, but with Canadian siblings who explore various places in Canada? It's so rare for Canadian kids to read stories happening in our country that it was exciting to see places that I could actually go or had been being featured.
Plus the books tended to deal with interesting issues, such as environmentalism and international politics. They were a uniquely Canadian experience!So. How well do they hold up? Admittedly, I do not think I actually read Murder on the Canadian when I was a child, and the portrayal of Tom doesn't quite jive with my memories. This might be because he changes throughout the series, or perhaps I just put my own spin on his character in my youth. However, he's quite the jerk! He's quite mouthy with adults and not very kind.
He's precocious, but definitely over the line of tolerable for me at times.The story is fast-paced, starting with a fake bomb threat to get readers' hearts pounding. Tom is on a rail trip across Canada to visit his grandparents, and when a murder occurs on the train, he decides he needs to solve it! I appreciated that, despite his love of detective stories, Tom didn't actually solve this mystery. The clues were there, but he didn't put them together. He's not a genius 12 year old that outsmarts the adults, but he certainly gets in a lot of trouble. Poison, stabbings, and shoot-outs are all part of this book, so parents should think about the level of violence they want their kid exposed to.Content note: Nothing was changed in this 40th edition, and there is a series of jokes called the 'little moron' jokes. That's not cool and while I understand many of the arguments against changing literature just because values have shifted, this is a book for young kids and that language is definitely not okay.Overall, the book is nostalgic, but showing its age.
The plot is quite readable, the setting is true to the Canadian train, but Tom's jerk level is a bit high, and there's definitely some value shifts that parents should unpack with their kids. I am definitely curious to see how the books in the series that I actually read stand up and whether Murder on the Canadian just suffers from first book syndrome.