Keeper of the Black Stones

Gr 7–10—Nerdy, messy-haired, and intelligent, Jason Evans is the grandson of a physicist. Life seems pretty normal for the 14-year-old and his equally geeky, smart-aleck friend Paul, until the day Jason discovers his grandfather's journal. What he reads makes him question the old man's sanity, but as strange things begin happening, Jason is convinced that Doc's exploits are real. He has traveled back through time to 1485, where he is the Earl of Oxford, an advisor to Henry Tudor in his battle with King Richard III for England's throne. Doc's efforts are being thwarted by Lord Dresden, who is really Doc's modern-day foil Nicholas Fleming, a man with a maniacal plan to change history and take over the world. Unable to stop Doc before he jumps once again, Jason, Paul, and a tough-as-nails bodyguard hired to protect the family plan their own journey back in time to help him. Things get even more complicated when Nicholas's teenage daughter insists on tagging along. McHugh does a good job creating a sense of time and place in both centuries, presenting vivid historical details as well as believable present-day bantering.—Wendy M. Scalfaro, G. Ray Bodley High School, Fulton, NY