The Emerald Atlas

Here is the book summary courtesy of goodreads.com:

John Stephens' aptly-titled new fantasy trilogy begins auspiciously with a nimble, fast-paced tale of three siblings. Kate, Michael, and Emma have suffered through ten years of odious orphanage "care"; now they have slipped into the care of the eccentric, disturbingly mysterious Dr. Pym. While exploring their new home, the children discover a magical green book. With that discovery, a decade of tedium dissolves into cascades of dangerous time travel adventures and struggles with a beautiful witch and decidedly less attractive zombielike Screechers. High early reader marks for strong characterization and battle scenes.

My Review 

The Emerald Atlas is a thrilling story that I would recommend to all ages of readers. It reminds one of The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe at first. However, that soon changes into a very original and engaging story. Kate, the oldest, promised her mother to take of her siblings when she was only four years old. After years of hardship, she is now very protective and almost motherly in some respect. Michael is a lot like Klaus in the book series by Lemony Snicket: Series of Unfortunate Events. He is a scholar of dwarves and is always spouting random dwarf facts. For example, it is a dwarf tradition to whistle Christmas Carols through one's nose. Emma is the youngest. She has never known either of her parents and her first reaction when she feels threatened is to attack the threatener. Overall, I thing that she was my favorite character is in the book next to Gabriel. Gabriel is the member of a tribe in the mountains and is the stereotypical hero fighter dude. He develops an unbreakable friendship with Emma, which adds a beautiful aspect to this book. Since the children's parents were forced to send them away when they were young, they have no idea who they are. The children are often left wondering whether or not their parents really cared about them and why they never came to get them. While I was reading, I was emotionally invested in this book. The characters were hilarious at times and the most touching and scary scenes had me gasping with surprise and sweating with anxiety. The Countess, the witch, seems silly  at first, but in a frolicking evil way. You learn later that she is just a small piece in the plan of a greater power. The plot concerning the Books of Beginning was brilliant. I've never quite thought of time that way. All and all, The Emerald Atlas is a heartwarming tale that children of all ages will enjoy. 

Stars: 4 out of 5