The Time Travelers by Linda Buckley-Archer

Synopsis: It's already shaping up to be a terrible day for Peter Schock when his father has to cancel their grand day out together and instead he has to spend the day with Kate Dyer and her family. When her father shows the children a new anti-gravity machine, it somehow transport Peter and Kate back to 1763. Although they are fortunate to have been befriended by the kindly Gideon Seymour, they discover that their machine, and their only hopes of returning home, has been stolen by a cunning and dastardly fellow known as the Tar Man.

Assessment: With loads of fun, excitement, and details, this book will pull you in from the start. The front of the book says it's for kids who love Harry Potter. This is one of the few times that I actually agree with this comparison. The action is so fast-paced that will want you to keep reading, and the story combines elements of modern and old England with enough science fiction to satisfy every reader. What I especially loved were the details about life in 1673 including the lack of hygiene, methods of transportation, and manners of speaking. I thoroughly enjoyed it all.
This is the first book in a trilogy that does not come to it's conclusion with the first story. I highly look forward to reading the second book and hope to soon.

Spotlight on Richard Peck

The Ghost Belonged to Me Summary: Alexander is having a hard enough time being a normal boy in school without his strange neighbor Blossom Culp trying to scare him by telling him his barn is haunted. One night, thinking Blossom is trying to spook him again, Alex goes into the barn and discovers a strange girl in wet clothes with a little dog. When the mysterious girl helps prevent a tragedy from occurring, suddenly everyone far and wide wants to see Alex and his ghost. Now Alex and Blossom must avoid the press and other gawkers in order to grant the girl's one request - a proper burial with her family in New Orleans.


Ghosts I Have Been Summary: When poor Blossom Culp saves the richest girl in town, Letty Shambaugh, from being beaten up, she is rewarded with new clothes and a visit to the Shambaugh home. Only problem is that Letty doesn't want spunky Blossom there. To make her visit more interesting, Blossom pretends to have ESP. But what turns out to be a prank actually unleashes Blossom's real psychic powers. Soon she is able to prevent a boy from getting run over by a motor car, a false medium from swindling the town, and even help a kindly old woman with her ghost problem. But things take a turn when Blossom travels, for a moment, into the past on board the Titanic. And there, she learns the terrible truth about a family everyone had once thought were heroes.

The Dreadful Future of Blossom Culp Summary: Blossom is starting out her first year of high school on bad footing. Everyone knows about her psychic powers, but everyone feels she's just lying or is crazy. Never one to worry about what other people think, Blossom agrees to be part of the school Halloween Haunted House as a fortune teller. However, when she goes with Alexander to take a look at the house to be used, she is suddenly transported, not back in time, but to the future. It's a very strange future where people used strange glowing boxes, grown girls wear their skirts short, and even worse, everything she knows and loves about her beloved Bluff City is gone.

Assessment: Without a doubt, Richard Peck is one of the finest writers for children of our day. Typically, he writes historical novels set at the turn of the century, and a few set just before or during World War II, with marvelous details, particularly about the automobiles, Hoosier speech, and way of life is quiet towns, typically in Indiana. However, I was glad to come across these novels because now I could find a reason to include Richard Peck on my blog. Don't expect a lot of suspenseful action; instead, expect rich and wonderful humor such as a great Halloween prank against mischievous boys who want to overturn an outhouse and are instead scared out of their wits by a made-up Blossom. I hope these books will also lead readers to Peck's other wonderful novels.

Savvy by Ingrid Law

Description: When each member of the Beaumont family turns 13, each receives a special gift they call a savvy. It's Mib's turn to receive her Savvy, but as she's nervously awaiting to see what it will be, she learns that her Poppa has been in a terrible accident and is in a coma in the hospital. Believing she can revive him, Mibs, along with two siblings and the preacher's kids too, hides on a bus heading to the town where her father lies. Or so she thinks. Nothing turns out the way she hopes, including her savvy.

Assessment: This book is full of good humor, interesting characters, and just plain fun. While nothing works out as Mibs hopes, Mibs tries to work things her way while learning about her savvy and a little about love, for her siblings, for another girl she originally didn't like, and especially for the cute preacher's son. With it's beautiful cover and great characters, I feel this book will soon be very popular among middle schoolers who iwll be able to relate to many of the characters.

Spotlight on Eva Ibbotson

The Great Ghost Rescue

Summary: Humphrey and his family of ghosts are in big trouble; their dingy home is being renovated into a movie theater. Forced to move, they travel Britain looking for a new home, but soon realize that dank castles and broken down homes are being turned into hotels, discos, and even motorways. As they search, they meet Rick, a sympathetic schoolboy who wants to help look for a home, not just for Humphrey and his family, but for all ghosts. He takes his case for a ghost sanctuary all the way to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister isn't sure he can help, but a lord says he knows the perfect place - an old remote and desolate estate off the coast of Scotland. Delighted, ghosts from all over come to the new sanctuary. But their happiness is short lived as they quickly learn that they have been lured into a trap. And the helpful lord in actuality wants to rid Britain of ghosts forever!


Not Just a Witch

Summary: Hectate Tenbury-Smith is a witch who wants to do good in the world. She has decided to turn all wicked people into animals. She befriends a boy named Daniel who helps Heckie turn a mean nursing home owner into a warthog and a cruel chicken farmer into a fish. But soon a cunning furrier named Lionel Knapsack learns of Heckie's amazing power. Realizing that Heckie's Lionel's ticket to creating rare coats, the rascal begins courting her, promising to marry her if only she'd rid their community of 300 terrible men by turning them into snow leopards. Now it's up to Daniel to save 300 prisoners from becoming snow leopard skin coats for the nefarious Lionel, and even more, to prevent Heckie from having a broken heart.



Dial-A-Ghost

Summary: The Wilkinson family lost their lives in World War II and have just lost their beloved home. Miserably, they are forced to live in an underwear shop until their adopted daughter Addie discovers a strange building called Adopt-a-Ghost, an agency that pairs ghosts with families that want them. At the same time, a young orphan named Oliver has just learned that he is direct heir to Helton Hall, a dreadfully lonely and frightening place. What's worse, his cousins Fulton and Freida Snoddle-Brittle are determined to get the Hall for themselves. Fulton goes to Adopt-A-Ghost asking for the most frightening and ghoulish ghosts they have. The ladies at the agency know just the pair: a horrible couple known as the Shriekers who strangle children in their sleep. Poor Oliver doesn't stand a chance against this gruesome couple! Or perhaps the agency isn't as well organized as it seems.

Assessment: These books are sure to please kids looking for more magical fun. They are filled with magical beings and spells, but are very funny and enjoyable to read. Ibbotson does a wonderful job creating various threads of her story, then weaving them together in various, often funny, complications that tie up to satisfying resolutions in the end. What is also enjoyable is the way the author inserts social commentary into the stories; such as, even though prisoners have done wrong, is it right to turn them all into leopards or is it fair to judge people in death for what they had done in life? Ibbotson is a delight to read and I will certainly look out for her other titles.

The Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

Summary: Dashti, maid to Lady Saren, are shut in a tower for seven years because of Saren's refusal to marry a brutal khan her father has chosen for her. Saren has secretly pledged herself to the kind khan Tegus. For two years Dashti and Saren must endure the brutal summers and winters in the tower. Then, just when it appears that the food is running out, Dashti finds a way to escape. But when they escape, things get even worse. Dashti quickly learns that Lady' Saren's kingdom has been destroyed and all her family killed. She and the traumatized Saren must wander until they procure work as pot scrubbers in a nearby kingdom - khan Tegus' kingdom. Just as Dashti is thinking things will become easier for her and her lady, they soon learn that the kingdom is under threat from the same brutal khan, and worse, Tegus is about to marry another.

Assessment: Hale is just a wonderful storyteller! Her books are exciting and expressive. Here, she takes an obscure Grimm fairytale (Maid Maleen) and imagined it on the central Asian steppes. Not only is it fascinating to read about the culture and religious beliefs of the time, but you'll be riveted to the fleshed-out and well paced story. What's more, then end is so satisfying you'll want to cheer for Lady Saren who moves from being a terrified mouse to a lady who learns her worth, and especially for Dashti who, while holding completely true to her values, earns her worth.

I, Coriander by Sally Gardner

Summary: A coming of age story in 16th century London, Coriander beings her story happily, the wealthy daughter of loving parents. But after her mother dies, she sees strange goings-on, strangest of all, her father's marriage to a mean Puritanical mother. When her father is arrested in association with Oliver Cromwell, her step-mother takes in a horrible priest, who rules the family with an iron fist. When Coriander rebels against them, he locks her in a trunk for three years. But instead of dying, Coriander learns of another fairy world where her mother had been a princess and her wicked aunt is trying to seize control. Coriander learns to take control in both her London world and in the fairy world.

Assessment: This is another wonderful book for girls. It is quiet in story, but extremely rich in details. History buffs will savor the flavors of the details of the politics and lifestyles of the day, as well the touch of romance in the fairy world. The novel is beautifully written, well-plotted, and just a delight to read.

Larklight and Starcross by Phillip Reeve

Larklight
Summary: Arthur and his sister Myrtle are expecting a guest on their seldom-visited home of Larklight just outside the moon's orbit. Unfortunately for them, their visitor turns out to be a band of giant spiders who quickly take over their home. The two siblings quickly escape and are rescued by a band of pirates. The pirates turn out to be not as bad as their reputation that precedes them. In a space skirmish, Myrtle is taken to Mars by the fiendish spiders to be rescued by Martians. She ends up in London (only to assault Queen Victoria in a case of mistaken identity!). Arthur, on the other hand, in the search for his sister, finds his long-lost (and believed to be dead mother). Arthur and his mother realize that the spiders are planning something horrible on Earth to bring down the British Empire. Little do they realize that it is not at the Crystal Palace, but the Crystal Palace itself as the celebrated building turns into an enormous machine bent on destroying London.

Starcross
Summary: Arthur, Myrtle, and their mother decide to take a holiday at the famous Starcross resort on an asteroid off Mars. Soon, Arthur realizes that the asteroid has the ability to travel back in time to when Mars once had oceans. While there, they discover that a a band of interstellar creatures called Moobs that seem to have taken on the shape of gentlemen's hats. Myrtle gets stranded with her pirate love interest and a member of the French Legion back in Martian pre-history. Arthur and his mother, on the other hand, have to keep the Moobs from taking over the British Empire.


Assessment: It is 1851 and Britannia not only rules the waves, but Mars, Jupiter, and other parts of the universe as well. Phillip takes a page from Jules Verne with unusual machines and fantastic worlds where life teem and humans don't have to worry about space suits or oxygen, and fuses it with action. The pace is non-stop fun, particularly in the author's ability to portray and parody British sensibilities from the 1800s. For example, Myrtle is absolutely obsessed with dresses she sees in magazines and appearing to be a proper British lady (including her wondering why she can't swoon like the ladies in the novels she reads). Arthur, on the other hand, takes comical views of his sisters silliness (glossing over people gushing emotions and making fun of his sister's bathing costume - a proper Victorian thing with a bustle to hold safety supplies should the wearer be lost at sea). Both books were just tremendous fun to read and I highly recommend them.