Time Castaways #1: The Mona Lisa Key

by Liesl Shurtliff

Overview

From Liesl Shurtliff, the New York Times bestselling author of Rump: The True Story of Rumpelstiltskin, comes a thrilling new middle grade trilogy about three city kids who get on the wrong subway train and wind up on a wild, magical mystery-adventure throughout time.

Imaginative, daring, and packed with fun, Time Castaways is perfect for fans of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library and Percy Jackson.

Mateo, Ruby, and Corey Hudson’s parents don’t have too many rules. It’s the usual stuff: Be good. Do your homework. And never ride the subway without an adult, EVER. But when the siblings wake up late for school, they have no choice but to break a rule. The Hudson siblings board the subway in Manhattan and end up on a frigate ship in Paris…in the year 1911.

As time does tell, the Hudson family has a lot of secrets. The past, present, and future are intertwined—and a time-traveling ship called the Vermillion is at the center. Racing to untangle the truth, the kids find themselves in the middle of one of the greatest art heists of all time.

And the adventure is just getting started.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062568168
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	09/17/2019
Series:	Time Castaways , #1
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	375,627
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.50(h) x 1.00(d)
Lexile:	720L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Liesl Shurtliff is the New York Times bestselling author of Rump: The True Tale of Rumpelstiltskin, other books in the (Fairly) True Tales series, and the Time Castaways series, beginning with Time Castaways: The Mona Lisa Key. She was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah, the fifth of eight kids. She now lives in Chicago with her husband and four kids, where she writes full-time. Find her online at www.lieslshurtliff.com

Editorial Reviews

Time-traveling pirates, whimsical humor, a sentient ship, and cliffhanger predicaments deliver generous helpings of quirky, retro-tinged entertainment.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Third-person narration with memorable characters, an enticing plot, and some cool steampunklike magic will attract readers who love Jen Swann Downey’s Ninja Librarians or Brian Farrey’s Vengekeep Prophecies. A strong sense of the characters’ humanity and interesting time travel paradoxes... A promising series for fantasy adventure fans.” — School Library Journal

“An engaging page-turner that will serve as an introduction to science fiction and mystery.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Praise for RUMP:
“Lighthearted and inventive, Rump amusingly expands a classic tale.” — Brandon Mull, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Fablehaven

“As good as gold.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

Praise for RED:
“Red is the most wonder-filled fairy tale of them all!” — Chris Grabenstein, New York Times Bestselling author of Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library

From the Publisher

Praise for RUMP:
“Lighthearted and inventive, Rump amusingly expands a classic tale.

Brandon Mull

Praise for RED:
“Red is the most wonder-filled fairy tale of them all!

Chris Grabenstein

An engaging page-turner that will serve as an introduction to science fiction and mystery.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

An engaging page-turner that will serve as an introduction to science fiction and mystery.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

08/01/2018
Gr 4–8—Three siblings disobey their parents' seemingly overprotective rule about never getting on the New York subway, only to find themselves aboard a time-traveling vessel whose mission is to collect artifacts around the world from different eras. Matt, the primary character and eldest, finds himself doubting their captain, the alternately creepy and fatherly Captain Vincent, as more is revealed. Third-person narration with memorable characters, an enticing plot, and some cool steampunklike magic will attract readers who love Jen Swann Downey's Ninja Librarians or Brian Farrey's Vengekeep Prophecies. A strong sense of the characters' humanity and interesting time travel paradoxes make up for what is lacking in humor or nail-biting tension. VERDICT The first in a promising series for fantasy adventure fans.—Rhona Campbell, Georgetown Day School, Washington, DC

School Library Journal

2018-05-28
In this series opener, three siblings are lured onto a shape-changing ship whose time-traveling pirate captain aims to steal Leonardo da Vinci's masterpiece from the Louvre.Their parents have forbidden Matt, adopted from Colombia, and twins Corey and Ruby, their biological children, to take public transportation—even elevators. The kids' adventure begins when they disobey and board a subway car that proves to be the shape-changing frigate Vermillion on its way to Paris. Navigating via magical compass, Capt. Vincent leads the successful mission to pre-empt the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa. Mission accomplished, the children are told why they were abducted and—assured they can return the same moment they left—settle in to enjoy time travel and Vermillion's (mostly) friendly crew of orphans, such as Jia, who keeps the ship running on peanut butter and bubble gum. But Matt begins to suspect undisclosed motives lie behind their abduction. While the siblings learn the startling reason, Matt's connection to time travel by compass remains a mystery to be solved in future volumes, as do his unexplained seizures. Racially, chronologically, and culturally diverse characters and the convoluted plot, packed with surprising twists and turns, cleverly play on readers' expectations. Matt's, Corey's, and Ruby's races are unspecified, though on the cover the former appears with brown skin and the latter two with pale; Jia is described as Asian.Time-traveling pirates, whimsical humor, a sentient ship, and cliffhanger predicaments deliver generous helpings of quirky, retro-tinged entertainment. (Fantasy. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews