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Apr 30, 2013JCLChrisK rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Since I gave the first book in this series four stars, I feel I simply must give this one five, as the series merits at least four and this second book in the trilogy may, in fact, and most unusually, be even better than the first. It really deserves much more buzz than has come my way, and many more readers. I'm going to have to find more ways to highlight and recommend the series while we wait for the final installment. Early on, this book gives a nice little summary of the first one (though these bare bones hardly capture how nicely the story fleshes out): ----- "Frustrated at having had her hair pulled for the third time in one week, Emma had suggested that they tell Miss Crumley the truth: that Dr. Stanislaus Pym was a wizard, that the reason Miss Crumley couldn't find Cambridge Falls on a map was that it was part of the magical world and therefore hidden from normal (or in her case, subnormal) humans, that as far as what had happened there, the three of them had discovered an old book bound in green leather that had carried them back through time, that they'd met dwarves and monsters, fought an evil witch, saved an entire town, and that pretty much any way you looked at it, they were heroes. Even Michael." ----- The three siblings are back in an orphanage at the start of this book while Dr. Pym is unexpectedly away on business, but they know that the Dire Magnus is still looking for them and that their quest for the Books of Beginning must continue. Oldest sister Kate has bonded with the time-traveling Emerald Atlas, so now they must find the books for Michael and Emma before the Dire Magnus's minions to fulfill their destiny and save the world. The adventure just gets bigger and the stakes get larger as they go.