The Emerald Atlas

by John Stephens

I'm sorry to anyone who may be reading this blog! I've been a very poor reader lately (darn master's classes really do take up a lot of time!) Combine that with various cake-making and painting projects I've taken on (as well as the personal goal to watch the entire series of Battlestar Galactica (done!), as well as the complete Joss Whedon filmography (working on it!)) and I've found myself really lacking in extra time! (Go figure.)

Secondly, I don't really remember a lot of what I wanted to say about this book! I believe I wrote a couple notes down somewhere, but I can't find them. I suppose I'll update this if they turn up.

Anyway, I did really like The Emerald Atlas. I actually picked the book up because I saw that the author was a writer for the television show Gilmore Girls, which I always appreciated for it's witty, rapid-fire banter even when the story line went all over the place in later seasons. This novel is the story of 3 sibling - a brother and two sisters who get passed from orphanage to orphanage after their parents mysteriously left them as children. The kids finally end up in this strange, gloomy town in a orphanage that is only occupied by them. After some snooping around they find a green book that can transport them back in time if they put a picture from that year in it's pages. The trio eventually finds themselves transported to the same town but many years in the past when an evil witch in town held all the children captive. The siblings work together, along with other friends they meet along the way to try to save the children, and the town from the witch's magic.

This is a fun start to a new series. It's not the next classic children's novel, but it's unique and interesting and sure to be a kid-favorite. I'm eager to see how the next books in this series turn out!