MMGM: The Book of Time

I’ve been reviewing a lot of girl books lately, but today I have one that will appeal to boys or perhaps boys and girls. It appealed to me.

I picked this up because as I said in this post, I like to read what’s already out there in my genre before I start writing. As I’m drafting a middle grade boy book and this book had some similarities to mine, I had to check it out.

Here’s the synopsis:

A statue; a coin; an old book. They look as dusty as everything else in the Faulkner Antiquarian Bookstore, where 14-year-old Sam Faulkner seeks his father, who's been missing for days. But when Sam slips the coin into the statue, he's swept back in time -- to Scotland in 800 A.D. -- where he must find both the statue and another coin in order to return to the present. It's the first step in an adventure that will take him to ancient Egypt, World War I, even Dracula's castle -- and a mystery that will end only when Sam saves his father, or loses him in time . . .

By the way, this is a book that was written in French initially, so this is a translation.

What I loved:

--Third person narration. It seems like it’s becoming rarer to find books, MG or YA, written in third person. I thought this was a great choice for this book. The focus was on the action, not introspection, but still Sam’s personality came through.

--Sam was a very likable and relatable narrator. His difficulties with Monk, a bully, and his family, especially his aunt’s boyfriend, made him sympathetic. It was fun to discover with him what time period he was in and watch him adapt.

--I loved how that his time travel adventures didn’t go as planned. He’d think—I’ll try this to get to Dad—but then it wouldn’t work and he’d have to try something else. Notes from Dad and mysterious Latin inscriptions were highlights for me!

--His relationship with his girl cousin, who helps him in the modern times, was well-done.

--I loved the whole concept of a “Book of Time”—that wherever Sam or his dad travels, information about that place shows up in a book.

My only quibble was that at the beginning of the book, it seemed like he jumped from time period to time period with no apparent purpose. I would get attached to characters in one time period, only to have him leave. Once he got to Egypt, what he learns there impacts everything else. So just stick with it! I really enjoyed the ending and how the author tied up loose ends, but left room for a sequel.

I would class as upper middle grade, especially since the age of the protagonist is on the verge of high school. There's some violence in the historical time periods. I think older readers (junior high age) would relate to Sam's modern-day issues with bullying, girls, and family.

If you like time travel, history, and adventure, this is the book for you.

This is the first in a series. There is also: Gate of Days and  The Circle of Gold.

To check out more Marvelous Middle Grade suggestions, check out Shannon Messenger's blog.