JANET TAYLOR LISLE

Janet Taylor Lisle's books for young readers have received the Newbery Honor Award, the Scott O'dell Award for Historical Fiction, Holland's Zilveren Griffel, and Italy's Premio Andersen Award, among other honors. A former journalist, she lives in Little Compton, RI, and often draws on Rhode Island history in her work.

Learn more about this book, based on historical events, set right here in Rhode Island!

Black Duck is based on historical events and stars a notorious rumrunning craft of that name that smuggled thousands of cases of liquor into Rhode Island shores during the years of Prohibition. The novel draws on the real life story of how the Black Duck, manned by a crew of four from communities around Narragansett Bay, was intercepted by a Coast Guard cutter off Newport on the night of December 29, 1929. Three crewmen died and a fourth lost part of his hand in a barrage of machine gun fire. The incident gave rise to front page headlines across the country, inflaming public opinion about the the overuse of government violence on unarmed offenders. A movie about the incident is currently in production through Black Duck Productions, a Newport film company. It's expected to appear in early 2021.