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It's 1952 and Janie has just been forced to abruptly move from sunny Los Angeles to cold, gray London after her parents are targeted as Communist sympathizers. Janie hates London until she meets Benjamin, the son of the local apothecary, who wants to be a spy and pulls Janie into spying on an employee of the Soviet embassy. It's all good fun until they see Benjamin's father make contact with the Russian, and everything gets very real very fast. Benjamin's father disappears at the hands of a si ...more
I almost wish I'd read this one in print instead of listening to it - the narration is competent, but it never quite added anything to the story. I suspect the illustrations in the print version might have added more. My only quibble with the narration was that her accents occasionally crept over into the narration.
The story itself is a promising blend of historical fiction and fantasy, with the potential to explore larger political themes. I loved the bits of the book that set the stage - the s ...more
The story itself is a promising blend of historical fiction and fantasy, with the potential to explore larger political themes. I loved the bits of the book that set the stage - the s ...more
Janie is an American transplanted from California to London after her parents realize they are being followed. This is in the days of the Cold War, and her television-producing parents worry about being thought of as "Commies." In London, however, things take a turn for the strange when the local apothecary is abducted, and Janie and the apothecary's son Ben must find him using the strange book he's left behind. In the book are recipes for magic, and one of them might just stop a nuclear bomb.
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I can't tell if this will be the start of a series or not - the ending is wonderfully ambiguous (a good thing, I promise). This is the type of young-end YA book that blends adventure, magic and humor into a book that readers will enjoy and hope for more.
We start in LA, where Janie gets the feeling she's being followed. She is, but not because of anything she's done: her parents are outspoken dissenters about HUAC, forcing the family to leave the US for London. This part of the book glosses over ...more
We start in LA, where Janie gets the feeling she's being followed. She is, but not because of anything she's done: her parents are outspoken dissenters about HUAC, forcing the family to leave the US for London. This part of the book glosses over ...more
Fun book. Nice solid characters (although the protagonist sometimes bothered me..). Some magic involved and yeah. Just a really nice story. Glad to have discovered a new author.
Started very strong...but once the bird-morphing started...it kinda lost me.
A really unique premise. Read this for the fantastic characterizations.
Feb 16, 2011
Holly
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Jun 01, 2011
Paige
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Oct 23, 2011
Debbie Barr
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Nov 14, 2011
Krista the Krazy Kataloguer
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Dec 20, 2011
Lisa Vegan
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Jan 03, 2012
Tiffany
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Mar 03, 2012
katie
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Sep 26, 2012
Dana
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Mar 27, 2013
Morgan
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May 31, 2018
Cindy
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Nov 06, 2022
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Feb 15, 2025
Kate
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