The Chalice Project

Island Fiction

by Lisa Allen-Agostini

Twins, Ada and Evan, eat junk food, fight at school, and are normal Trinidadian children in every way...or so it seems. Their father Steven, a genius scientist, desperately wants to protect his children from his past. Now the future has caught up with them. A search for their mother leads them to a Jamaican laboratory and mind-blowing revelations. A secret potion and the mysterious Chalice Project are the children's only clues to uncovering their true identities.

Genres: Science Fiction

191 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Lisa Allen-Agostini is a poet, playwright, and fiction writer from Trinidad and Tobago. She is the author of a children's novel, The Chalice Project (forthcoming, 2008). An award-winning journalist, she is the Internet editor and a columnist with the Trinidad Guardian.

Reviews

[Krista the Krazy Kataloguer · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I finished reading this book, I felt like I had been to another country! The story not only takes place in Trinidad, but is written by an author from that country. Lisa Allen-Agostini refers to fruits, vegetables, dishes, and drinks I was longing to try and to places I wished I could see. The dialogue of the twins' classmates was Trinidadian English, which I could hear in my head as I read. The setting alone made this story appealing to me.

It certainly was an interesting and unusual tale which I would class as science fiction. Twins Ada and Evan, age 12, learn that they are a genetic experiment created from their father's sperm and mother's eggs, and stolen from the lab in Jamaica by their father and brought to Trinidad. (Adam and Eve=Ada and Evan) With the help of a special formula they find in their father's desk, they find they can time travel. They also have the ability to heal quickly and run faster than anyone. The twins are obsessed, however, with finding their mother, whom their father has told them nothing about. The story combines the supernatural with the human longing for a parent, and the ethics of genetic engineering and time travel. It kept me guessing right until the end. I hope this woman writes more books like this. Highly recommended!

[Saidah Gilbert · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like that the book is based in my home country- Trinidad and Tobago. I like the fantasy elements. However, this book is definitely a children's book. The plot is simple and straightforward. Also, foreigners will be able to understand even with the use of dialect for one or two of the characters.

[Joselle Smith]

very interesting got me in the story i want the whole series of these island fiction books !!!!!!!!!

[RJC · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too simple,y written. Not flowing at all. Set in Trinidad and Tobago.

[Ten · Rating 3 out of 5]

My review is definitely a biased because of my age/maturity and personality, but hear me out.

I didn't finish reading this book, and I'm not sure that I'll ever will. Not because the content wasn't interesting though. On the contrary, I think if I were a younger reader, I wouldn't have been able to put the book down! The twins are pretty cool, and I like the concept of Caribbean children trying to find their own identity, especially with a few drops of science/fiction-ny goodness thrown in.

As an adult through, it was a bit too predictable for me. My mind makes huge leaps and bounds in terms of plot, so all of the glaring evidence toward the obvious sort of drove me crazy...
For example, judging from the back cover, it's hinted that the kids are a result of genetic testing/experimentation. Yet the characters spend so much time defining genetics and discussing it while simultaneously wondering why they're managing superhuman feats? I was going crazy that they didn't make the leap themselves; Trinidadians (even jokingly) have such respect for the supernatural that we'd still attribute strange lights at night to a soucouyant, even in the 21st century. That these seemingly intelligent children didn't make the connection by half of the book drove me crazy with annoyance and impatience.

A younger reader could appreciate it though!