First night : an Alex and Jackie adventure

First Night

BY: Tom Weston

PUBLISHED BY: tom weston media

PUBLISHED IN: 2008

ISBN: 978-0-981-94130-1

Pages: 253

Ages: Teen & Up

Reviewed by Billy Burgess

Author Tom Weston brings us an old fashioned ghost tale in First Night. The story begins with Sarah Pemberton who has caught the small pox. A family friend, Captain John Ayres, gives her an ivory bracelet to wear. Sarah dies.

The story skips to the present day. Alexandra O’Rourke and her younger sister, Jackie, are spending their New Year’s Eve with their aunt and uncle in Boston. They’re California girls and rather be home partying than spending their vacation in Boston.

Their aunt and uncle let them go out on their own and explore Boston. They come across a teenager wearing a 1600’s dress. Her name is Sarah Pemberton. The same Sarah who died many years ago of small pox. The Court of Spirits have accused her of being a witch and release her into our world to find a lawyer.

Alexandra and Jackie think nothing of it because they’re in the historical part of Boston. They change their minds when Sarah runs through Alex.

With time running out, Sarah takes Jackie back to the Court of Spirits to help defend her soul. Alexandra stays behind and searches for the Devil’s Book.

Tom Weston has written a fun, original novel while blending in some historical facts and locations about Boston. Alexandra and Jackie are believable teenage characters with cleverly written dialogue. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a good ghost story.

As an avid reader, I relish when a book I wasn’t quite sure about reading turns out to be the reason I’m still awake come the early morning hours.  Tom Weston’s First Night was such a pleasant surprise!  Targeted at older teens, this novel provides the suspense and mystery needed to keep such readers intrigued.  Not to mention that it is also full of historical information about early American life and Boston itself.  This information is presented in a way that readers won’t realize they’re learning and enjoying themselves at the same time.  However, the incredibly beautiful writing and complex plot make the book just as enjoyable for adults as well.

First Night takes place on New Year’s Eve during Boston’s First Night celebration (hence the title).  Alex and Jackie O’Rourke are sisters who would much rather be home in California with their friends than stuck with their aunt and uncle in the New England cold.  However, the girls get more excitement than they bargained for when they befriend the ghost of Sarah Pemberton, a Puritan girl who has bigger problems than being over three hundred years old.  She has been called before the Court of Spirits and accused of (you guessed it!) witchcraft.  She must prove her innocence before the night’s end if she ever wants to leave the limbo in which she is imprisoned.  Jackie and Alex put themselves at risk in order to help their friend.  There’s plenty of time travel, graveyards, and ghostly apparitions thrown into the mix to keep even the most die-hard fans of the supernatural entertained.

Not only is the storyline itself enticing, (come on, who doesn’t like a story about a good witch hunt?) but the writing is also very impressive.  The language flows effortlessly and the vocabulary is quite challenging.  I must admit that there were several words I had never seen before, so I think it’s wise that this book is intended for young adults sixteen years and up.  I know for certain that while the eighth graders I teach would be interested in the story, they would definitely struggle through the vocabulary.  As an educator, I have read many books intended for young adults and it bothers me to say that most of the writing is elementary, at best.  Somewhere along the line, authors got the message that older kids like it simple, à la “See Jane ride a bike down the street.”  This is definitely not true and I’m glad Weston had the sense to write something that challenges that belief.  I was blown away by the imagery of Weston’s words from the very first paragraph, which reads:
“The cold and detached wind blew in over the Cape and Bay from the Atlantic Ocean, like an unwelcome guest with a gift basket of rain and sleet and misery.  In the harbor, littered with hump-backed islands, the sleeping ships lay snoring at anchor as the sea strove in vain to turn them on their sides.”

First Night is an original story that will paint a picture of Boston in such a vivid and impressive way that you might even consider packing up your stuff and becoming a permanent New Englander.  Alex and Jackie are fun, lovable characters whose ghostly adventure will leave you feeling satisfied, if not a little envious as well.