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Jan 23, 2015LibrLdyMapleValley rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
The night Kate's mother disappeared she asked one thing of her daughter. Take care of your brother and sister. Kate promised she would and then her world changed forever. Left alone without even a memory of their own last name Kate, Michael and Emma are passed from one orphanage to the next finally landing in the Edgar Allan Poe Home for Hopeless and Incorrigible Orphans. And they are kind of incorrigible but, you know, in a good way. Michael is obsessed with dwarves and adventure and is constantly poking his nose into holes checking for possible dwarf artifacts. People often think he's crazy. Emma is busy picking fights with everyone she meets which frequently includes her brother because he irritates her. Everyone irritates her. Kate definitely has her hands full. The day comes when they prove to be too incorrigible for the Incorrigible Orphans home and they get sent to dank, dark and depressing Cambridge Falls. What they notice immediately is that there are no children anywhere. Not even in their new orphanage run by the mysterious Dr. Pym. As they explore their crusty new home they discover an old green book that has the ability to send people back in time. They find this out by accidentally sending themselves 15 years into the past and right into the middle of a fantastic adventure. There's mystery, drama, dwarves (happy Michael), crazy sorceresses, adventure and even a lot of laughs in this well constructed page turning fantasy. Luckily it is the first of a trilogy of books with Katherine, Michael and Emma. If you have Harry Potter fans you might want to point them in the direction of John Stephens' The Emerald Atlas. And the audio version, read by Jim Dale, is phenomenal!