THE BOOK OF TIME
Guillaume Prevost
Arthur A. Levine Books/Scholastic
Fiction/Action & Adventure
ISBN-10: 043988375X
ISBN-13: 9780439883757
224 pages

• Author Interview -- September 2007

After the death of Sam Faulkner’s mother in a car crash, he and his father move in with Sam’s grandparents and his 12-year-old cousin Lily. Sam grieves for his mom and misses the friends he left behind in his old neighborhood, especially fair-haired Alicia. To keep his mind off his sorrow, Sam skateboards, practices judo and uses his wits to fend off bullies in his new surroundings. Computer-genius, judo-champion Monk especially seems to have it in for Sam.

Sam’s father Allan, who owns an antique bookstore in a run-down part of town, is known to disappear for days at a time on business trips. But when Allan is away for more than a week, Sam becomes worried. His grandmother reassures him that his father did the same thing when he was younger, and she tells Sam that his father’s grief over the loss of his wife is contributing to the frequent disappearances and odd behavior. But when Allan doesn’t return home for Sam’s 14th birthday, Sam decides to take action.

Sam visits his father’s antique bookstore, where he discovers a threatening message on the answering machine, a hidden room in the basement and a big book with a cracked red cover. CRIMES AND PUNISHMENT DURING THE REIGN OF VLAD TEPES appears to be a volume of history documenting ancient torture practices. Allan has always been a history buff, and Sam wonders if the book is somehow connected to his father’s mysterious and lengthy disappearance.

Upon further investigation of the secret room, Sam finds a stone shaped like a keyhole and decorated with a carving of the sun. Nearby, he discovers a dirty coin with symbols around it and a hole in the middle. After he puts the coin in the center of the sun, a strange humming noise emanates from the stone. The ground begins to vibrate and a “terrible fire ran up Sam’s arm and set his body ablaze.”

Thus begins Sam’s journey through time. His quest takes him to distant times and faraway places that he has only read about in books. With each destination he has experiences that will change his life and the way he looks at things --- forever. After each journey, he returns stronger and wiser and more confident in himself.

But what about his missing father? 

While the final page hints at the answer to the question of what has happened to Mr. Faulkner, the two-page teaser at the end of THE BOOK OF TIME urges readers to “read on for an excerpt from the exciting sequel,” THE SEVEN COINS, in order to find out more.

    --- Reviewed by Donna Volkenannt (dvolkenannt@charter.net)

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