A Spark to the Past

A Spark to the Past, Cynthia Wall, Dimi Press, 1998

This is a young adult novel about Kim and Marc, two present-day Oregon teenagers who are also amateur radio operators. During a meeting of the local radio club, a demonstration of an antique radio goes wrong, and the two, plus Bobby, a precocious five-year-old in the wrong place at the wrong time, find their spirits transported back in time  to 1845 and are part of a wagon train on the Oregon Trail. Their survival packs go back with them, including handie-talkies which they use to scout the way ahead. As if using their 20th century knowledge without frightening the rest of the party isn't hard enough, one night Marc sets up his portable transceiver and, through an atmospheric quirk, hears a weak distress signal from a Navy pilot shot down in the Pacific during World War II, almost 100 years later. Did I mention that through all this the wagon train party is fighting a losing battle against death from exhaustion and/or starvation?

This one is pretty good. Aside from being a fine introduction to Amateur Radio, the story also gives the message that school subjects like science and mathematics are not just for geeks and may someday come in very, very handy.