THE DREAM OF THE STONE

Misfortunes multiply: Sarah's parents are killed in a plane crash; she's sent to live in the City; her brilliant brother Sam disappears from his mysterious Institute. The bright spot is half-gypsy Angel: When a mysterious stone appears from Sam, followed by enemies from the Institute, it is Angel who accompanies Sarah on a dash through time and space. They land on a green-skied world with sentient trees and peaceful dragons. There, Sarah finds that she must restore the stone to the arch of the world to repel the loathsome shadow, the Umbra. Sam is besieged by his Institute's shadow-tainted head, but together they restore the stone, turn away the shadow, and return home, while Angel stays to reign as King. It's a rather sweet hodgepodge with echoes from all over: Hawking's quantum wormholes, Cooper's rising Dark, a hint of time-travel paradox, even some Penelope Lively: Sam and Sarah return to their great- aunts' home in Norham Gardens. Good triumphs, but the course of true love runs rough. A smoothly written first novel—a bit derivative, but that won't deter fans of the genre. (Fiction. 12+)