FINISHED:

Prevost, Guillaume. (2006, 2007). The book of time. New York: Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic.

[SO nothing to write home about, but not as bad as I initially thought. Will post my official review once it is done. Here it is:

After his father goes missing, Sam finds a mysterious stone pedestal in the basement of his dad’s bookshop. By fitting a coin into a slot on the pedestal Sam is transported through time to a World War I battlefield, a village of monks about to be pillaged by Vikings in Nova Scotia, and a tomb in ancient Egypt. Sam eventually figures out that his father is likely being held captive in Dracula’s castle but is unsure how to find his way through time to get there as the pedestals appear to be governed partly by thought. The adventures that Sam has at various places in time, in addition to being overly convenient (Hey, there’s a coin right over there that will help me leap through time again!), seem to be completely random and unrelated, not serving a central plotline but rather only providing interesting places and times for Sam to leap. Originally published in France, this is, however, the first tome in a trilogy, so the possibility still exists that these events may all come together in the forthcoming installments. The most interesting development doesn’t come until the very last page as Sam finds a desperate message from his father in a photograph from a library book, but the rest is pretty typical and lacking in any real excitement. Young fans of time travel fiction may find something worthy of their attention here, but all others will likely find themselves waiting for things to get interesting.]

STARTED:
Doder, Joshua. (2007). Grk and the Pelotti gang. New York: Delacorte Press.

[Reviewing for ACL - so far, it's a ROTTEN EGG.]

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