With A Little Luck

Published: October 1st, 2011

Time At The Top & All In Good Time: Two Novels

By: Edward Ormondroyd

Purple House Press

ISBN-13:  9781930900554

"Wait a minute!" Mr Shaw said.  "You want to take me back to the nineteenth century, to marry someone there?"

His daughter Susan must be mad!  Only a girl suffering from hallucinations would make a request like that, on top of a wild story about a good witch, an elevator that travels to 1881, a vanquished scoundrel, a dug-up treasure, and a distressed nineteenth-century family named Walker.  Better humor her, Mr. Shaw thinks, until I can get her to a doctor.

Susan is not mad.  Her story is true.  She and her new best friend Victoria Walker just know that when their parents meet it will be love at first sight, and the two families will become one.

But nothing happens the way it should.  Their parents meet and don't fall in love.  Domineering Cousin Jane forbids more meetings.  The treasure disappears overnight.  The vanquished scoundrel returns, with sinister plans.  Everything is spinning out of control!

So why does an old photo show that Susan and Victoria's dream comes true?

Review

     So, I never read either Time At The Top or its sequel when I was a child, but I had seen the movie that was based on the first book and absolutely loved it beyond measure!  I think it probably contributed to my complete obesession with time travel that I still have, even midway through my twenties.  The story is all about Susan Shaw, a preteen who is having a horrible time of things.  Her Mother has recently died, her Father is always working and at school she's been passed over as the lead in the play, so others can have a "fair chance."  Susan is just utterly grumpy about things in general, yet she still stops to help a strange old lady pick up her spilled groceries from the street.  The old woman promises her "three" and Susan doesn't know what she could possibly mean.  It doesn't mean three wishes, but three trips to 1881 (there and back) in the old elevator in her apartment building!  While she's there, she becomes good friends with Victoria Walker whose Mother is being taken in by a fortune-hunter.  So Susan helps Victoria get rid of him by making him think they have no money - only for the girls to find out it's suddenly true!  Can Victoria, Susan and Vic's brother Robert find a way to save the Walker family.  And will Susan find a way to stay in 1881, with her Father, and join the Walker family with her own?  Add in a buried treasure and some very interesting things will be happening!

     I really loved the story in this one and how it focused on Susan for a decent portion in the beginning, mainly for the chance to show the readers why she would want to live in the past.  Considering this book was written in the 1960s, it really wasn't a gigantic time gap when you think about it.  The most hilarious character in her time period is the housekeeper Mrs. Clutchett who is completely paranoid and extremely nosy!  Her commentary on Susan's disappearance is priceless.  Only eighty years or so between Susan and the Walkers.  I thought that the way Susan got rid of the fortune-hunter was slightly ridiculous and over the top, but it was also pretty amusing.  The whole scenario with the buried treasure definitely appealed to my inner youth.  Such a fun plot to unravel along with the children (even if it wasn't difficult at all to figure things out).  But my favorite thing about this book was the way the author, Edward Ormondroyd, inserted himself into the narrative as the Shaw's neighbor in their apartment building.  He barely interacts with Susan except for one notable time before she disappears.  But he desperately wants to know where she's gotten to, almost as much as her Father and the police do!

     The sequel, All In Good Time, is just as much fun with Susan finally taking her Father back to 1881 with her.  But nothing goes according to plan.  The Walker childrens' Mother is wary of accepting anonymous money (i.e. the treasure the children found and sent secretly to her), and therefore is still planning to sell the house.  Her horrible Cousin Jane comes to help manage the household, and terrorizes everyone in it.  She interferes with Mr. Shaw and Mrs. Walker's first meeting, disapproves of Susan who she sees as trashy, and does everything possible to prevent Victoria and Robert from seeing her.  And when the evil fortune-hunter Mr. Sweeney comes back once more, it's up to Susan and Mr. Shaw to find a way to save the Walkers from disaster - especially when the fortune disappears!  Overall, I highly enjoyed both of these books.  They flowed together beautifully and it felt a lot like one continuous novel.  Also, the adventure was fun even as a disbelieving adult.  I think that I would have absolutely adored this beyond belief if I had read it between the ages of eight and twelve.  As it is, I highly enjoyed it and will probably re-read it sometime.  That is a distinction not many kid's books I've read as an adult can boast of! :D

VERDICT:  4.5/5  Stars

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review.  This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

Ever Capable Dodger

Published:  September 13th, 2012

Dodger

By: Terry Pratchett

HarperCollins Publishers

ISBN-13:  9780062009494

A storm. Rain-lashed city streets. A flash of lightning. A scruffy lad sees a girl leap desperately from a horse-drawn carriage in a vain attempt to escape her captors. Can the lad stand by and let her be caught again? Of course not, because he's . . . Dodger.

Seventeen-year-old Dodger may be a street urchin, but he gleans a living from London's sewers, and he knows a jewel when he sees one. He's not about to let anything happen to the unknown girl—not even if her fate impacts some of the most powerful people in England.

From Dodger's encounter with the mad barber Sweeney Todd to his meetings with the great writer Charles Dickens and the calculating politician Benjamin Disraeli, history and fantasy intertwine in a breathtaking account of adventure and mystery.

Review

     One night when Dodger is out and about, he witnesses a young woman throw herself from a carriage to escape her kidnappers.  Determined to help her, he beats up the men and sends them on their way.  Then Charles Dickens and Henry Mayhew happen along the scene, taking the young woman to Mayhew's home to recover (with Dodger coming along to supervise).  But keeping her alive will take more effort than this, when it becomes obvious that people in high places would prefer for her to be dead.  So Dodger sets off on a mission to find out who ordered the kidnapping and to save the young woman from them once and for all.  Along the way as Dodger rises from the sewers to become a gentleman, he crosses paths with Benjamin Disraeli, Sweeney Todd, Robert Peel, and other famous faces.  Will Dodger, Charlie and the rest of their friends be able to forge a new life for the young woman in question, or will her past catch up with her in a lethal way?  This is actually my first Terry Pratchett book ever.  Not that I have never heard of the many wonders of Discworld!  I do happen to know that he is lauded for his fantasy writings and that this book is one of his few stand alones not part of that particular series.  I thought it was a very interesting concept, almost like a Dickens novel, but with a specific brand of humor and characterization that seemed to be unique to the author alone.  As much as I liked Dodger and found him amusing, I felt like he wasn't quite extraordinary enough to be the main focus.  It was like Pratchett tried to make him that way, but fell just a little bit short.  Also, to be completely honest, the politics of Victorian era London weren't exactly thrilling and keeping me on the edge of my seat.  Honestly, a fun book but not the best one that I've read this year.  My favorite part was Dodger's encounter with Sweeney Todd.  I do plan on picking up another Terry Pratchett book in the future and I have a sneaking suspicion that I'll like his fantasy better than his historical fiction attempt.  I would recommend this to established fans of Pratchett, fans of Dickens and reluctant boy readers in middle school and high school.  

VERDICT:  3.75/5  Stars

**No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book is now available in stores, online, or maybe even at your local library.**

I'm Peculiar, Are You Peculiar Too?

Published: May 1st, 2012

The Peculiars
By: Maureen Doyle McQuerry

Amulet Books (Imprint of ABRAMS)

ISBN-13:  9781419701788

This dark and thrilling adventure, with an unforgettable heroine, will captivate fans of steampunk, fantasy, and romance. On her 18th birthday, Lena Mattacascar decides to search for her father, who disappeared into the northern wilderness of Scree when Lena was young. Scree is inhabited by Peculiars, people whose unusual characteristics make them unacceptable to modern society. Lena wonders if her father is the source of her own extraordinary characteristics and if she, too, is Peculiar. On the train she meets a young librarian, Jimson Quiggley, who is traveling to a town on the edge of Scree to work in the home and library of the inventor Mr. Beasley. The train is stopped by men being chased by the handsome young marshal Thomas Saltre. When Saltre learns who Lena’s father is, he convinces her to spy on Mr. Beasley and the strange folk who disappear into his home, Zephyr House. A daring escape in an aerocopter leads Lena into the wilds of Scree to confront her deepest fears.

Review

  Lena Mattacascar has always been different from everyone else in her town.  She has long hands and feet, each with an extra joint - her Nana and the family doctor call them signs of goblinism.  Lena is curious about her Father, who abandoned their family when she was child.  Will she grow up to be like him, lacking morals and obsessed with money and adventure?  On her eighteenth birthday, Lena receives a letter from her Mother, that her Saul (her Father) left for her.  It contains the deed to a mine in the Scree, a lawless and wild land full of peculiars.  Hoping to find her Father to get some answers about herself and why he left, Lena decides to travel to the Scree.  On the train she meets Jimson Quiggley, who is headed to a town on the border of the Scree to be a librarian to a rich eccentric, Mr. Beasley.  Lena also meets Thomas Saltre, a Marshal on the trail of Peculiars who have escaped from the Scree.  He plays on Lena's insecurities and her acute sense that it's wrong to be abnormal; he convinces her to spy on Mr. Beasley, while in exchange he'll guide her into the Scree.  But when it turns out that Lena has misconstrued things rather badly, the consequences could be dire for some innocent people that happen to be 'peculiar.'  Can she manage to fix her mistakes in time to save Mr. Beasley, Jimson and other peculiars from a horrible fate?  Or will Lena's selfish and shallow choices ruin them all?  This book is classified as steampunk and fantasy, which normally would cause me to steer clear of it.  I have never been a fan of steampunk.  But this book seems to focus more on the physical, genetic abnormalities of the Peculiars and the extreme societal repercussions.  Some are born with 'goblinism' like Lena, others have wings sprouting from their backs.  All of them are viewed as beasts by regular people, treated only with distrust and intolerance.  This book addresses some serious issues with this particular plot device.  Lena herself was an interesting character.  It pained me that she seemed to hate herself so much, she was willing to betray anyone peculiar because she had been lead to believe they were unnatural and needed to be separate from society.  Not until close to the end did she seem to grasp that they deserved the same rights and treatment as normal people.  Jimson was a wonderful character, funny with a big heart and a serious thirst for knowledge.  He was definitely my favorite character, other than the Scree cat Mrs. Mumbles who was made of AWESOMENESS.  An interesting book with some food for thought and a resolution that was okay, but kind of meh compared to the action of the rest of the story.  

VERDICT:  3.75/5  Stars

*I received an Advanced Reading E-book Copy from the publisher, via NetGalley. No money or favors were exchanged for this review. This book was published May 1st, 2012.*