In 1849 Lucas Whitaker watches his entire family die from consumption. After his mother's death he hears about an unorthodox cure for the disease, which involves digging up the body of the first family victim. Based on historical fact, Lucas Whitaker is a graphic, gory account of a true practice, carried out by people in the 1800s who were desperate to save their loved ones from what we now call tuberculosis.

 

 

This book is part of a book series called Flyways Series .

There are 144 pages in this book.

It is aimed at Young Adult readers. The term Young Adult (YA) is used for books which have the following characteristics: (1) aimed at ages 12-18 years, US grades 7-12, UK school years 8-15, (2) around 50-75k words long, (3) main character is aged 12-18 years, (4) topics include self-reflection, internal conflict vs external, analyzing life and its meaning, (5) point of view is often in the first person, and (6) swearing, violence, romance and sexuality are allowed.

This book was published in 2001 by Floris Books .

Cynthia DeFelice is a successful children's author who lives in New York. This book was inspired by her grandfather who was apprenticed to a rural doctor at the age of twelve, and went on to become a respected surgeon.