TWENTY GOLD FALCONS

Fans of the earlier Gill Park adventures will likely jump back into this eccentric world with enthusiasm. Newcomers may be less excited and more confused. Gordon quickly introduces her new narrator, 12-year-old Aiden Farmer, to many of the quirky souls who inhabited the first two books set in Gloria as well as to a new collection of characters. Once again, the author packs her plot with puzzles, from a long-ago scavenger hunt to the discovery of an unknown family connection and the return of a long-lost relative. Aiden must also contend with adjusting to a new school, conflicts with a stuck-up classmate and grief at the recent death of her father. Not to mention sharing an apartment with an opera-singer uncle who’s struggling with his voice, becoming caught up in the lives of an extended family of elevator operators and becoming friends with a cousin who lives in a treehouse. And more. Admirers of busy, fanciful, timeless tales will embrace this while other readers are likely to find it chaotic, unlikely and dated in tone and style. (Fiction. 9-12)