A Spark to the Past

Rating:
Summary: A tense Historical/Science Fiction novel.
Review: This, her latest in a series of amatuer radio adventures for young adults, is a tense historical story with science fiction overtones. It is probably the best, though Wall's first book, Night Signals shows depth, as well. The two college-age main characters are transported back to the Oregon Trail through a freak accident. They must face the difficulties of that time-period and the hardships of the Trail with 20th-century sensibilities. Interlaced within this story, they are in radio contact with a WWII fighter pilot in 1943 via a mysterious atomospheric condition that is sending radio signals through time. The pilot has crashed on an island in the Pacific and is preparing to die; his story is moving as he writes a letter to his wife.

A Spark to the Past reads like a well written television movie, and has very good imagery and plot. All in all, this is a fine story, and it will likely be appreciated by its readers.