This series couldn’t ask for a more vibrant opening chapter.
The first volume in a YA series featuring siblings who help their time-traveling uncle locate ancient artifacts.
Thirteen-year-old Becky Mellor is spending the summer with her younger brother, Joe, and their reclusive inventor uncle, Percy Halifax. From their home in Manchester, England, the siblings head for Bowen Hall and what will probably be a dull vacation. Upon meeting Percy, however, the siblings find him charmingly eccentric; his Jacobean mansion comes with rare miniature horses and a brilliant archer named Will, who lives in a treehouse. Then, one night, Joe drags Becky out of bed to witness Percy catering to a sick saber-toothed tiger. This leads to the revelation that it’s possible to travel backward in time, which the Global Institute for Time Travel regularly does. After a jaunt to the Pleistocene epoch (in a 1963 Volkswagen camper van), Percy and the kids return to find Bowen Hall ransacked by the murderous Otto Kruger, who may well be hunting for the legendary Golden Fleece. In Percy’s possession are the mysterious Theseus Disc and a note from deceased friend and fellow time traveler Bernard Preston. Following these leads, the heroic trio ventures to the island of Crete in the year 1634 B.C.—but are they prepared to face the myths handed down by history? Author Ashmore kicks off his series with a sustained burst of narrative ingenuity and wit. His characters are wonderful company, especially Becky, an endearing smart aleck who calls Percy’s housekeeper, Maria, a “human skittle.” The clever rules of Ashmore’s world will also hook readers; the Omega Effect, for example, governs certain events that time travelers can’t alter. Then there’s the problem of Otto Kruger, a Nazi who’s somehow gone forward in time. When danger threatens, Ashmore channels Dr. Who through madcap Percy: “Guns are for amateurs.” Best of all, the audience is treated to moments that are beautiful (Becky crying at the sight of woolly mammoths) and transcendent: “No matter when or where you are, the sea remains the same—wonderful, elegant, dangerous and vast.” From every angle, it’s an excellent work.
This series couldn’t ask for a more vibrant opening chapter.Pub Date: March 23, 2012
ISBN: 978-0956859501
Page Count: 238
Publisher: Addlebury Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 16, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity.
A collection of parental wishes for a child.
It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. Then there's a picture of a boy on a beach, his pockets bulging with driftwood and colorful shells, looking frustrated that his pockets won't hold the rest of his beachcombing treasures, which lie tantalizingly before him on the sand. The line reads: “I wish you more treasures than pockets.” Most children will feel the better wish would be that he had just the right amount of pockets for his treasures. Some of the wordplay, such as “more can than knot” and “more pause than fast-forward,” will tickle older readers with their accompanying, comical illustrations. The beautifully simple pictures are a sweet, kid- and parent-appealing blend of comic-strip style and fine art; the cast of children depicted is commendably multiethnic.
Although the love comes shining through, the text often confuses in straining for patterned simplicity. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: April 1, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4521-2699-9
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
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