June 1, 2006
Gr 5-8 -Twig is back in the second book (David Fickling Books, 2004) in The Edge Chronicles series by British author Paul Stewart. In the first book, Beyond the Deepwoods (David Fickling Books, 2004), Twig discovered that he was the son of the famous sky pirate, Cloud Wolf. Now Twig is onboard theStormchaser, Cloud Wolfs renowned sky ship, and he is aiming to impress his stern father. Of course, things go terribly wrong. Twig accidentally dumps the cargo and Cloud Wolf refuses to take him on the next trip. Twig manages to stowaway only to find he has become a bargaining chip for ruthless enemies of his father. Throughout the book, Twig bungles his way into and out of trouble, meeting unusual and truly weird characters along the way. The most interesting character is the Stone Pilot, who befriends Twig and, to Twigs astonishment, turns out to be a girl. Narrator John Lee does a fine job of distinguishing each character and the story is nicely paced. The books illustrations by Chris Riddell are brilliant and provide the humor for the story. Without them, Stormchaser is very dark indeedcomplete with a masochist and a toe-stealing serial killer. Make sure the book is available to listeners. This fantasy is filled with outlandish characters and terrifying creatures, and fans of the series will be enthralled.Tricia Melgaard, Centennial Middle School, Broken Arrow, OK
Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.