Fantasy and Science Fiction for Children and Teens
The Crystal Prison The Deptford Mice Trilogy: Book 2 Paperback: 256 pages Recommended age range: 9-12 List Price: $17.95 |
Description:
Returning from the cellars of jupiter, the young Oswald is taken by a fatal fever, and Audrey is forced to strike a terrible bargain with the squirrel queen, the Starwife. The bargain? Oswald is cured.....
BUT, audrey must accompany the crazy rat, madame Akkikuyu until Akkikuyu dies. The mice soon find themselves wrapped in a web of mystery until they come to a chilling conclusion................
David's rating: 5.0 wands 
David's Review:
Good book! The reading level is very readable for all ages. There is some scaryness in it but readers who enjoyed The Dark Portal should be fine.
Mom's rating: 4.0 wands
Mom's Review:
Any book that begins with a description of the partially decomposed body of a cat is definitely not for sensitive souls. But kids who enjoy a darker, even slightly macabre, story will enjoy this book. Like its predecessor, The Dark Portal, this is an exciting but slightly eerie fantasy, rich in details. The first part of the book is a bit slow, but once things start happening, it's tough to put the book down until the heart-stopping climax. The main characters are mostly mice, but these mice exhibit both the worst and the best of human characteristics. When the mice demonstrate mob mentality, it's particularly frightening, given that this kind of thing can really happen.
My only complaint about the book is that the heroine, Audrey, acts a bit too petulant and self-centered, and her selfishness is partially responsible for setting in motion the events that happen. This would be a good setup for a story if Audrey grew over the course of the story and her growth helped to resolve the problems that her selfishness caused, but while there is some growth, I didn't feel that she ever did anything to make up for some of the things she did earlier. It made me feel that she really didn't deserve the help that some of the other characters gave her. I hope that in the third book we see Audrey grow more in empathy and willingness to help others.
All Editions:
Hardcover ISBN 1587171074 $14.36 Buy Now | Paperback ISBN 1587171619 $6.95 Buy Now | Audio Cassette ISBN 1840325631 $13.51 Buy Now |
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