Tanglewreck

Something frightening is happening with time. One moment, a time tornado rages through the streets of London, and those caught up in its path vanish without a trace. The next moment a woolly mammoth is seen lumbering along the banks of the River Thames. At the center of these bizarre time warps is a house called Tanglewreck, which is home to eleven-year-old Silver, her bony and bad-tempered aunt, Mrs Rokabye, and a mysterious clock known as the Timekeeper. Silver doesn't understand exactly what the Timekeeper does, but when two sinister figures come looking for it, she knows instinctively that she must guard it with her life.

Editorial Reviews

In her first book for young adults, Winterson (Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit) delivers a romp through space and time with an intrepid 11-year-old heroine, Silver Rivers. The story opens with "the first of the Time Tornadoes," which merges a contemporary school bus and a pharaoh's chariots on the River Thames. It then moves to the 16th-century rambling house that had been Silver's family home before her parents and sister disappeared four years ago. Now Silver lives there with her greedy "aunt" who is helping an ageless and sinister alchemist, Abel Darkwater, find the lost Timekeeper. A prophecy states that this clock, to be found by the Child with the Golden Face, controls the most precious commodity of all time. Silver discovers she is that Child, with the help of the underground people called "Throwbacks," who help her travel across the universe and back. Winterson playfully peppers this journey with references to John Harrison, the Einstein Line, Schr dinger's cat, quantum physics, Black Holes and Egyptian deities. In Silver's quest to fulfill the prophecy, she teams up with her special Throwback friend, Gabriel, to take on Darkwater and his nemesis Regalia Mason, leader of a powerful corporation for centuries into the past and future. While the text may be somewhat fragmented and overworked in places, the sheer exhilaration of the adventure and the many fascinating historical and scientific allusions will keep readers engrossed through to the satisfying conclusion. Ages 8-12. (Aug.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.