Joe’s second adventure is a tragedy of parallel lives and class divisions. Since his escape from the claustrophobic, danger-ridden alleys of Victorian London's Pound’s Field at the close of Joe Rat (2009), Joe has been robbed of his stash of toshed treasures, so he attempts street sweeping in upscale Lomesbury Square. The job’s requisite slick patter is beyond him, so he runs errands for one well-off family’s cook and is quickly mesmerized by the Harveys, whose strange, upper-class ways he studies through their dining-room window each evening. Joe’s role in foiling a burglary earns him the respect of Mr. Harvey, a banker and noted charity worker, and the avid, jealous curiosity of Alec, the Harveys’ wayward son. When Mr. Harvey brings Joe’s long-absent father back to England, he unwittingly brings out the worst in Alec, a fully three-dimensional nascent sociopath, whose desperate ploy for attention and glory brings Joe’s hopes to ruin. Readers will be pleased that the door is left open for a third tale of the enterprising, tough street kid with a genuine heart of gold. (Historical fiction. 12 & up)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5377-6
Page Count: 351
Publisher: Eerdmans
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
Energetic, clever, and absorbing.
Ada Lovelace and Mary Godwin—better known today as Mary Shelley—combine forces to create a living automaton: a real boy.
It’s the year “18—mumble mumble,” the timeline smooshed together into an imagined year when both girls are in their late teens. Ada, the abandoned daughter of famous poet Lord Byron, is a mathematical genius who creates delicate clockwork automatons. Mary’s the daughter of the late, famed early feminist Mary Wollstonecraft. She’s half in love with poet Percy Shelley, her father’s mentee, and wonders if she’ll ever succeed at writing. The girls become friends when their fae godmother arrives through a hidden door in the back of Mary’s wardrobe to school them both on powers they may have inherited. Lo and behold, with Mary’s help, Ada’s automaton becomes a living—and lovely—boy named Pan. When villains want something from the girls, they take off, along with Pan and Mary’s two half sisters, on a romp through Europe. The trio of authors responsible for this entertaining smashup series get better with every book they write. Readers don’t have to know the characters’ real-life backstories to enjoy this story; for those who do, the parallels are intriguing. The novel effortlessly and entertainingly combines “Cinderella,” Frankenstein, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Pinocchio, and Hamilton, and the ending reminds readers not to underestimate quiet women.
Energetic, clever, and absorbing. (Historical fantasy. 12-18)Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-293007-1
Page Count: 496
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
PERSPECTIVES
A period Christian romance that is lean on historical atmosphere.
A plot to expose a greedy nobleman in 1386 England leads two justice seekers to fall in love.
When Violet, named for her unusually colored eyes, learns that her grandmother has become a victim of Baron Dunham’s unlawful so-called protection tax, she is determined to alert King Richard to the injustice but is intercepted by the baron’s men. After she is taken before the baron, Violet, who was adopted as a young child, learns a tragic and shocking secret about her own history. The baron, meanwhile, is scheming to increase his own power and has plans that threaten Violet. But Violet keeps crossing paths with Sir Merek of Dericott, a knight who has recently joined the baron’s household at the king’s request. Sir Merek proves trustworthy, and he and Violet join forces to try to find the secret account book that will prove to the king what the baron has been doing to exploit his subjects. Over time, Violet and Sir Merek fall in love. Though Violet is high-spirited, and she and Sir Merek are well developed, most of the cast is one-dimensional, and the medieval setting feels spare and underdeveloped. There are some references to previous novels in the series, but this entry, in which Christianity is woven throughout, succeeds as a stand-alone. All characters are cued White.
A period Christian romance that is lean on historical atmosphere. (Historical romance. 12-18)Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2023
ISBN: 9780840708199
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
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