Blue Mountain Trouble

About this book

Way up in the misty island mountains of Jamaica live eleven-year-old twins Pollyread and Jackson Gilmore. Pollyread is smart as a whip and tart as a lime. Jackson's sweet as a mango. Both of them know all the rules of their village -- and how to break them.

Then a young thug named Jammy sweeps in to stir up the twins' world. He even seems to be targeting their family. But are Pollyread's smart mouth and Jackson's steadiness enough to take him on - or will Jammy and his secret change the Gilmore family forever?

Reviews

Praise for Blue Mountain Trouble:
"An utterly gorgeous, magical story, rendered with sheer grace and honesty. This book will transport you." -- Daniel José Older, New York Times bestselling author of Shadowshaper

"I want a copy. . . in every library, in every school staff room from Montego Bay to Port Antonio, from Vancouver to Cape Town to Bristol and to Port of Spain. Blue Mountain Trouble has a wide role to play all over the English-speaking world. Why? Blue Mountain Trouble heals. It illuminates." -- Jean D'Costa, The Jamaica Journal

"Twins Pollyread and Jackson face a magical goat, school exam blues and a threat by a thug named Jammy in this page-turner. Can they restore peace and tranquility to their quiet mountain village? Martin Mordecai offers up a terrific and suspenseful plot in an unusual tropical setting." -- Olive Senior, author of Birthday Suit and Anna Carries Water

* "Most delicious of all in this plum pudding of a book is the language. . .Mordecai, without resorting to explanations or a glossary, teaches us how to hear and understand. . .We might well reach the end of the book, a lovely quiet conversational coda about the souls of the dead and the unborn, without ever exactly knowing what a "duppy" or an "obeah" is, but Mordecai pays us the compliment of respecting that readers have more than one way of understanding a word and a concept. When human relationships are honest and precisely observed, as they are in this novel, everything else falls into place as newly familiar." -- Quill & Quire, starred review

* "Mordecai's balance of the ordinary and the supernatural is Virginia Hamilton-esque in its delicacy. Jackson and Pollyread emerge as distinct and entirely likable individuals, their mutual affection and love for their parents both endearing and believable... A gorgeous snapshot of a locale and culture not seen enough in children's books." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"First-time author Mordecai, a native Jamaican, brings the Blue Mountain region of his homeland to life in a unique coming-of-age story tinged with mystery. . .Through colorful narrative punctuated with regional colloquialisms and poetic language ("When you sleep your whole life under open windows in a place so quiet you can feel the night sky move, then rain when it wakes you is like God telling you stories"), the author captures the rhythm of the children's daily life and effectively conveys their hopes, fears and family love as they look toward the future and learn secrets about the past." -- Publishers Weekly

"Mordecai's descriptions of the close-knit community are clear and vivid. . . Since much of the dialogue is in a melodic Jamaican patois, readers use context and pattern -- and cues from the characters -- to infer meaning. . . Readers won't soon forget the time they spent with these spirited characters in a uniquely beautiful setting." -- Horn Book

"Rich in characterization with a beautifully realized setting. The elements of magic and mystery are intriguing, too, but best of all is the author's use of wonderfully idiosyncratic, powerfully expressive, and downright musical Jamaican English." -- Booklist