Books with title Ring out Bow Bells

As the Civil War comes to an end, Matty Trescott's war experiences have led her to an interest in studying medicine. In this Agatha-nominated mystery, Matty enrolls in medical school in Boston, while her cousin Neely studies the sciences in western Massachusetts. The cousins make new friends, encounter old ones, and learn a bit about women's rights. And the last words of a dying woman propel them into solving the mystery of her death. Ring Out Wild Bells was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best Young Adult Mystery of 2001. “I love the mystery. I didn’t want to stop reading even when I got to the end of the book.” Sarah Wilcox, 6th grade student, Berlin CT.

The sound of the bell is the sound of the world's past. The people of medieval towns and cities rose, ate, prayed and retired to the ringing, jingling, pealing of bells. Bells are a part of the world's present, too. Electric alarms wake late sleepers. Electronic bells call out classroom changes and clocks still ring in the hours and the New Year all over the world. As the author comments, 'Where men and their civilisations have flourished, bells flourished, their voices touching all fields of human endeavour'. In this refreshing book, Jane Yolen expertly combines information on bells with tales about them from different cultures and periods. Legends and stories add colour to the passages describing the long history of bells and their uses in times of war - and peace. The importance of bells in religion is stressed, especially the part they have always played in man's great rituals celebrating birth, marriage and death. Factual chapters give information on how bells are made and how they are struck in the art of change ringing and the book concludes with a charming chapter of poetry and song inspired by bells.

In Ring Out Wild Bells, the sequel to Matty's War , we follow Matty's cousin Neely to Mount Holyoke Seminary and Matty to medical school in Boston. There, the last words of a dying woman propel the cousins into an investigation of the woman's mysterious death.Ring Out Wild Bells was nominated for an Agatha Award for Best Young Adult Mystery of 2001.