Curriculum Connections:

Grade 5-9, 60-Minutes
Learn how the 1865 transatlantic cable changed history. Discover the perils of laying a 4000 kilometre long cable 8 kilometres down under the ocean. What terrible secret was discovered when they tore the ship apart? Watch for a Morse code question at the start of every chapter. Decode and find the answer when you read the book. Bonus: Students can examine an actual piece of the 1865 cable that changed the world.
Curriculum connections: Language Arts, Social Studies, Science and Humanities.

About the Book

Set sail on the voyage of a lifetime! Discover how the World Wide Web really  began. This is the story of the ill fated1865 attempt to lay the transatlantic cable  from Ireland to Newfoundland, but the submarine cable is only part of the tale,  added to this is a list of mayhem including:

• a fortune telling Irish lass who hides out on the biggest ship ever built
• the fiendish Fenian plot to sabotage the cable by driving a spike though its heart
• supernatural elements with documented history supplying the solution
• the lethal race to find a stolen golden treasure and…
• a fat sheep called Dimples with a terrible sense of timing!

Factual/actual history is woven into a tale of danger and mystery giving insights into Canadian and world events that changed communication for all time.

New Study Guide!

Need a full Study Guide for Ghost Messages? Download Study Guide

Ghost Messages Presentation

A comprehensive 60-minute interactive presentation consisting of:

• a PPT which includes actual photographs and illustrations from the voyage
• background insider information on the writing historical fiction
• a Morse Code quiz to puzzle and amaze with a fabulous prize for the student who decodes and answers the question first
• a Q & A Session allowing readers to ask the author questions that critical reading raises

Complete Teacher’s Guide available free

Students will see an actual piece of the 1865 cable that started today’s tidal wave of communication

**Note: This session can be presented to a large audience in an auditorium.

Requirements for Presentation

PPT projector and screen or Smart Board and a lectern.

Power connections would be an asset.
Approximately five minutes required to set up and tear down.  If linking to school’s audiovisual set up, allow a few minutes more.

Launch of Ghost Messages in Newfoundland

Student Testimonial

Grade Five Student:
Hello this is Olivia. I was the one who cracked your Morse code, and won your book when you visited our school! I read the whole thing when I got home from school, and I loved it! I just wanted to asked about the ending of the story and when I read it I burst out in happy and sad tears! I was wondering if there is another book that continues the journey of Ailish, and her friend Paddy. I also would like to know if Davey comes back to visit her again. I will always read that book and never forget that ending!